


Don't Be Blue (Your Brothers and Sisters Are Here for You)

by orphan_account



Category: Twilight Series - All Media Types
Genre: Age Difference, Age Play, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Anal Sex, Barebacking, Codependency, Daddy Kink, Dubious Morality, Families of Choice, Family Bonding, Gen, Headaches & Migraines, Human/Vampire Relationship, Light Dom/sub, Mommy Kink, Multi, Nightmares, Not Safe Sane and Consensual, Nursing, Oral Sex, Past Child Abuse, Polyamory, Porn With Plot, Possessive Behavior, Self-Discovery, Sibling Kink, Sickfic, Size Kink, Threesome - F/F/M, Trust Issues, Trust Kink, Unconventional Relationship, Vaginal Sex
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-29
Updated: 2019-08-21
Packaged: 2020-07-25 16:51:32
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 32,726
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20029132
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: For all that Bella doesn’t doubt her place in Esme and Carlisle’s lives it’s another thing entirely when it comes to her new siblings.The ease which Alice had stepped into her life had lulled her into a false sort of hope and the reality of Rosalie’s stinging barbs, Jasper’s aloofness and the strange suspicion from Edward has left her disheartened.But Bella is about to discover there are many sides to her new brothers and sisters [as well as herself] and not all of them without their complications.-Or: the Cullen siblings give their new sister a very warm welcome , each in their own way, as Bella finds her place in the Cullen family.





	1. Welcome to the Family

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Zaliah](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zaliah/gifts).

> Many thanks for inspiring this fic<3

”You'll be fine,” Esme tells her, squeezing her close with a kiss against her cheek before drawing back just enough to put them face to face, golden eyes searching brown. “You know how much Alice loves you and Emmett has been looking forward to getting to know his little sis for months now.”

“I know, Mom,” Bella says, warmth blossoming up inside her at the fussing. “Alice already have the entire thing planned down to the last detail I am sure.”

Esme glances towards the house where Emmett and Alice had very deliberately squished themselves up against the living room window.

“Stop hoarding the human,” Emmett whines, too low for Bella’s ears to pick up on.

“Yeah, Mom,” Alice echoes, grinning. “Stop hoarding the human.”

Esme gives them both a _look_ before turning back to Bella, sighing at the inquiry in those beautiful eyes. “Don’t be afraid to tell them no,” she tells her little one. “_Especially_ Emmett.”

Behind Bella Emmett clutches his heart dramatically.

“Noted,” Bella assures her and Esme all but melts when Bella glances hesitantly towards her waiting family before she leans forward to place a quick little kiss on her lips, red dusting across her cheeks as she ducked down. “Bye, Mom,” she squeaks, turning and very deliberately not looking at them as she hurried inside, the curtain in the living room conveniently swept back in place.

Esme turns beseeching eyes to her husband who laughs and sweeps her into a kiss. “Come now, before the rest of our children grows impatient,” he says fondly and Esme gives the house and her baby girl one last look before breathing out and stepping up to join the rest.

Jasper’s powers brushes up against her with a ticklish sort of feel and Rosalie bumps her shoulder against hers.

“Last one there?” Rosalie challenges, shifting and pulling her hair back into a firm knot before sinking down, knee pressing against the wet earth.

“You know it,” Jasper agrees as he rolls his shoulders his before crouching down.

Edward gives them both a long-suffering look at the push of their thoughts. “3, 2, 1, Go,” he says dryly and they shoot into the forest.

“I still say this is a bad idea,” Edward says with a twist of his mouth even as he crouches down, eyes narrowing in the direction of his siblings. “Alice and Emmett are bad on their own – putting both of them together?”

“Are you concerned about your new baby sister?” Esme teases even as her mouth curls fondly.

He was the only one of them who hadn’t bonded with someone and she sometimes fears he felt lonely despite him reassuring them otherwise. Esme knew his gift didn’t make things easy for him and there was a niggling sort of curiosity in the fact that it didn’t work on Bella.

“I’d be concerned for anyone left with those two,” Edward grumbles, shooting the house one last look before disappearing in hot pursuit of the other two.

“Ah, younglings,” Carlisle sighs beside her. “So full of spirit.”

Esme gives him a considering look. “You letting them win?”

“And hear of nothing but their heckling for the coming months?” Carlisle asks. “Never.”

They exchange looks before bending down, removing their shoes and throwing them aside, the earth wet beneath their feet as they press down and disappear with a blur into the dark forest.

-

“I thought they would never leave.” Emmett draws the curtain shut, practically bouncing over and leaning close to Bella, eyes peering intently. “So, it’s just you and me then baby bear?”

“And me,” Alice reminds him, breezing past and snagging Bella by the elbow to pull her deeper into the living room.

“Ah, right – you’re so small so I completely forgot you existed for a moment,” Emmett says, nodding knowingly as he followed along with a little spin and a snap of his fingers. “So what’s the plan short stuff?” he asks as he folds his hands behind his head. “Movies? Games? A good old fashioned wrestling match?”

“And have Esme literally gut us when she returns to find our baby sister with a broken arm?” Alice asks wryly.

Bella meets Emmett’s judging eyes with a raised brow. “You humans are so fragile,” he tells her.

“Ah,” she says. “I’ll make sure to stub my toe extra hard next time and blame it you.”

“Oof, baby bear – so ready to throw me under the bus?” Emmett asks dramatically.

“Best sister ever,” Alice sighs happily. “And friend – _my_ best friend.”

Bella goes warm at the firm possessiveness – ducking her head with a brush of colour against her cheeks and Emmett stills, inhaling sharply. “Whoa,” he says, nose wrinkling. “Eddy-boy wasn’t joking about the intensity of your blushes.”

“She smells good, doesn’t she?” Alice purrs making Bella’s cheeks only darken further.

“Oh come on,” she grumbles. “Less vampiric sniffing and more fun for the human, please. You’re making me feel self-conscious.”

“Nothing to feel self-conscious about,” Alice reassures her, pulling her along and up the stairs where she pushed the door opened and spread her hand out grandly. “We,” she said smugly as Emmett dropped an elbow down on Bella’s shoulder, a grin spreading over his lips. “Are going to have a great time.”

-

Bella stares at the two vampires and the two vampires stares back – practically puppy-eyed as she drew her Pikachu glass closer, daring them to grab it out of her hand.

“Oh no,” she says. “You can dazzle me all you want but you’re not getting any alcohol into this human.”

“But-“

“No buts,” Bella says firmly, very deliberately not looking at the bow-tied vodka bottle placed glaringly in place in the middle of the living room table.

“But you’re legal,” Alice says with a little furrow. “And – you’re here. With us.”

“I was following a train of logic until you added the last part,” Bella says dryly, taking a loud sip of her straw.

“Come on, baby bear.” Emmett gives her foot a little nudge with his own. “You won’t be human forever and once you’re a vampire there’ll be no getting drunk _ever_. And-“ he presses, when she opens her mouth. “There’s _really_ no better situation. There’s no parents about and you’re in the company of-“ Alice grunts when he throws an arm around her and squishes her up tight to him. “An all-knowing pixie who’ll make sure you get through the evening without regrets. Isn’t that right, pixie dust?”

“It certainly is, brother bear,” Alice agrees solemnly.

“And you have m-“ Alice slaps a hand over his mouth, her eyes sparkling innocent when Bella gives them a severely dry look.

“Look,” she says, placing her glass aside and clasping her hands together as she leant forward. “I’ll drink,” she says, Emmett’s grin widening as Alice’s died with a grimace. “But only if you agree to eat human food. _And_-“ she says, pointing at Emmett. “I get to choose the glass.”

Emmett narrows his eyes, searching hers, but the offer is too good to resist and he leans forward to clasp their hands together.

“Deal!”

-

Emmett stares into the fridge while Bella lifts the small thimble, studying it thoughtfully as she considered how many drops of vodka would fit into it.

“Why does Esme keep a thimble in the kitchen?” Emmett asks despairingly. “And why is there so much _food._ There’s no way all of this will fit into your tiny little body.”

Bella glances at him over her shoulder. “Oh yeah, there’s no way that’s happening,” she agrees. “Mo-“ she stumbles on the word, blushing bright red. “I mean – Esme, she likes to make sure there’s always something to snack on. I’m not… always in the mood for food.”

Alice and Emmett exchange glances, one shrugging, the other giving the food a suspicious once over before finally grabbing for a bowl of ready cooked chicken and pulling it out with a wrinkle of his nose, keeping it firmly away from himself as he carefully dropped it onto the table.

“There. Food. Can you _please_ chose something that is an actual glass?” he begs and Bella’s mouth twitches as she abandons the thimble in favour of a shot glass to an exaggerated sigh of relief.

“I hope you don’t think I’m drinking straight vodka,” Bella says as she drops down on one of the free seats. “And I maintain the right to quit whenever I want.”

“Of course,” Alice agrees she slides a game of cards into the middle of the table. “And I make a _mean_ Cosmopolitan,” she assures Bella as she trots over to the fridge and pulls it open, grabbing for the cranberry juice, a handful of limes and a round orange which she threw to Emmett who gave it a highly suspicious look before reluctantly reaching for the tools to peel it.

“Why am I not surprised that you’re an expert on a drink with the word _cosmo _in it?” Bella asks with a fond twitch of her mouth as she rests her chin in the palm of her hand.

“It’s all about style, baby bear,” Emmett calls over his shoulder with a glitter of humour in his golden eyes. “Rosie makes a killer Bloody Mary I’m told.” He winks at her and Bella chokes on a laugh, her grin crinkling the corner of her eyes.

“You’re bad,” she tells him.

“I made you laugh,” he corrects her, dumping the pile of peels into the bowl Alice all but stuffs into his hands. “And my Rosie does everything perfect so it’s not a lie.”

“You really love her, huh?” Bella says with some wonder, studying him.

For all that she knew he’d been born 1915 it was another thing entirely to weigh it against his physical attributes which put him in his twenties at the very most.

It had only been a few weeks since the reveal of what the Cullen’s were and Bella still had a lot of questions buzzing about her mind in regards to their pasts and what they’d seen, why they’d been turned and who’d turned them and how their human lives differed from their vampire ones – just to name a few.

Carlisle had offered to share the basics but Bella had shaken her head and told him she wanted to figure out on her own.

It did leave her rather doubtful she’d ever learn anything about Rosalie _ever_ but Alice hadn’t hesitated and she was rather hoping to broach the subject with the giant bear-like vampire in front of her for all that the nerves curled so tight in her belly that she threatened to give herself a stomach ache.

“I do,” Emmett agrees and there’s not a trace of doubt in his voice. 

Alice places a carafe of bright pink liquid and squishes a tiny little lime onto the edge of Bella’s shot glass, looking physically pained to do so as she gave it a tiny little tilt to fill it up before shoving it aside and placing the drink delicately down in front of the human.

“There,” she says and promptly hauls herself up to seat herself on one of the high-chairs at the kitchen island they’d claimed for the night. “Now let’s get to the fun part – who’s dealing?”

“Rules first,” Bella says as Emmett reached across the table to snag the cards up. “We’re making a drinking game out of it – aren’t we? There’s one of me and two of you so you better find a way to make that more equal.”

“Winner gets to ask a question – you either answer or you drink or take a bite of the… chicken,” Alice says the last word with great suspicion, nose wrinkling. “Three sips per class,” she answers Bella before she can open her mouth to voice it. “You’re a lightweight so better not push it or you’ll miss all the fun.”

Bella gave her a highly suspicious look while Emmett perks up, grin spreading.

“Oh I am excited already,” he says with a leery smile.

Bella huffs. “I agree to the terms,” she says somewhat grudgingly.

“Wonderful,” Alice says, clapping her hands together. “Let’s play then.”

-

For all that Bella doesn’t doubt her place in Esme and Carlisle’s lives it’s another thing entirely when it comes to her new _siblings._

The ease which Alice had stepped into her life had lulled her into a false sort of hope and the reality of Rosalie’s stinging barbs, Jasper’s aloofness and the strange suspicion from Edward had left her disheartened.

Emmett – Emmett was another thing entirely. The way he spoke about her sometimes made her doubt if he actually cared to know _her_ or if he was just eager to get to know a _human_ who was aware of what he was and thus consequently didn’t have to restrain himself around.

He had startled her on more than one occasion and for all that she couldn’t pick out any ill-will in his actions it still made her uncomfortably reminded of other men who hadn’t hesitated to overstep as long as it brought them some sort of joy or amusement.

Bella remembered James vividly.

An on-and-off boyfriend Renée had sent to pick her up from school. He’d dragged her to an empty ballet studio and forced her to dance after seeing her stare enviously at the ballerinas on the television - his feet kicked up on a chair and a sixpack of beer steadily declining beside him.

Bella had always been clumsy and she’d been completely bruised in the aftermath of it, sobbing when he finally, and grudgingly, dragged her home to Renée who’d been angry enough about it to actually break up with him.

It was the last time she’d sent strange men to pick up her daughter, to Bella’s relief, but the memory wasn’t so easily shaken off.

Only Alice’s steady presence kept her from curling her shoulders tight as Emmett shuffles the deck and deals them with a steady hand before snagging his own cards up and spreading them out in front of him, the smile on his lips never faltering as he hummed happily despite the three pieces of chicken he’d already choked down.

Bella herself has only taken two sips of her first shot and it wasn’t even enough to add some pleasant warmth to her belly which was a relief and she throws two cards, accepting the new ones with an internal grimace.

Alice spreads her cards out triumphantly at the end of the round and Bella throws her own with a sigh as she snags a handful of dried blueberries and pours them into her mouth, munching absently as Alice staples her fingers together.

“Who,” she says carefully, weighing her words. “Would you consider kissing in this family. Outside your partner – or _partners_?”

“Aiming for the incest angle already?” Emmett wiggles his brows. “How scandalous.”

Bella gives Alice an unsure look. “You, I guess,” she says after a moment and Alice gives her a little grin, something flashing through the golden of her eyes before they flicked towards Emmett.

Emmett opens his mouth, closes it. Opens it again. “I think I’d take the resident human,” he says with a grin and shrug. “I hear the temperature difference can be _tantalizing._”

“It is,” Bella blurts out, hand curling into the bottom of the shirt she was wearing as Emmett stills, grin twisting a bit strangely.

He clears his throat.

“What about you, pixie dust?”

But Alice merely shuffles the cards, clearly having no intention of answering and Bella draws her shot closer, not quite sure what to feel as her gaze flickered between the two vampires.

Bella wins the next two ones to Emmett’s surprise as he blinks at her a bit owlishly as she drew the pile of cards towards her, shuffling them as she considered what to ask.

“I didn’t know out new little sib was a secret card shark,” Emmett says as he scratches absently below his ear.

“Maybe you’re just bad at it,” Alice offers innocently.

“You want to fight?” Emmett asks just as innocently.

“Which decade-“ Bella interrupts before the situation could escalate. “Did you find the most exciting?”

“The fashion of the forties,” Alice said with a little sigh of nostalgia.

“I rather liked the seventies,” Emmett says grudgingly with a bit of a shrug as he leans back. “The technology advancement these last few years? Not too shabby either. But come _on_, less safe question and more fun ones!”

“Then you better win a round,” Alice tells him loftily as Bella deals the cards, pulling them close a bit reluctantly as the two vampires snatched their own up lightning quick.

Alice scores three more rounds, ignores Emmett’s flat look completely as she hit her mobile to bring out different outfits for comparison – forcing them to choose or pay a penalty and pouts when Emmett and Bella exchange looks the third time and chokes down their respective choices.

Emmett refills her shot glass and Bella snags more blueberries for herself as Alice deals. 

“_Finally_!” Emmett says when they reveal their cards. “Human-“ he says enthusiastically as he rounds on her. “What’s it like dating a MILF _and _a DILF?”

Bella flushes at the frankness of the question and reaches for her glass only to have it snagged out of her grasp, his eyes intent on her as he spun it innocently where it had practically appeared at his side. “Emmett-“

“Oh come one baby bear,” he implores. “Give me something! Where’s your sense of adventure?” 

“It’s personal,” she bites out and Emmett gives a great exaggerated sigh as he slides the drink back.

“Fine,” he says, pouting. “But we’ve all heard you, you know?” He wiggles his eyebrows while Bella pales as his voice lowered in an approximation of her own. _“Mommy-_“

The chair slams against the floor behind her and Bella nearly stumbles with it as it threatens to drag along her hoodie, jerked away in the last moment as Emmett stilled in place while Bella grabbed for her jacket in the hallway and pushed the door open as she stuffed her hand down her pocket – grasping for the set of keys there only to have her wrist grabbed and stilled.

“You can’t drive,” Alice says seriously as Bella stares at her, pale, her chest heaving. “It’s not – please come back inside, Bella? He’s not – he didn’t mean it like that.”

“Then how did he mean it?” Bella squeezes out, keys digging into her fingers. “Because it sounded like he was making fun of me and M-" she stumbles over the word, cheeks turning red.

“Esme and Carlisle loves you,” Alice says gently. “Don’t let him get to you.”

Bella’s mouth twists and she turns away from Alice to stare at the rusty red car Charlie had bought for her when she first moved to Forks to live with him.

It’s drizzling gently and she loses her grip on the keys and instead sinks down on the front porch.

Emmett peers out at them from the door opening and Alice gives him a long meaningful look.

“I’m not being a very good big brother, am I?” he asks her as he sighs and leans up against the door frame. “Look, baby sis – we know you love Carlisle and Esme, it’s pretty painfully obvious, and I shouldn’t have teased you about it. You think you can forgive me?”

Bella bites down on her lower lip in that way Esme always tried to urge her away from. “I’ve – never had any siblings,” she says, hunching forward. “I’m sure I was just overreacting.” 

“Nah,” Emmett disagrees. “I was being pretty shitty.” She slants him an unsure look. “I was being genuine though, baby bear. Have you _seen_ Carlisle and Esme? I mean, you _scored_. And, frankly, so did they – snagging someone like you.”

The tips of Bella’s ears goes red.

“And I do want to get to know you better – you are my new baby sis, after all.” His cheeks dimples as he smiles at her. “Alice here already had the luck to get to know you but the rest of us? We’re behind and it’s no fun I tell you.”

“It’s because I’m the best,” Alice preens and Emmett’s hand shoots out only for her to flash out of the way, her laugh light as she hauls herself up on the front of Bella’s car, legs dangling. “Emmett won’t admit to it but he’s _jealous,” _Alice says just a tad smugly as Bella blinks at her. “It’s rare to find a human like you and we’re all very aware of how lucky Carlisle and Esme are to have found you first. To be honest? You could have belonged to any of us – the visions I got was pretty open until you met Esme in the supermarket. After that, well.” She shrugs, apparently not minding the way the drizzling rain clung to her wild hair.

Both Emmett and Bella stares at her.

“Esme and Carlisle know what exactly has been going through your mind in planning this evening?” Emmett asks slowly, consideration dipping into his gaze as he turned it towards the only human.

“Of course,” Alice says, sounding rather offended. “Besides, she’s _ours_ now. She’s been ours since the moment Mom and Dad claimed her and-“ Her eyes darkens as she inhales and Bella freezes in place at the familiar predatory hunger in her gaze. “I thought you wanted to get to know your new big sister and big brother,” she purrs low and intent as Bella curls her fingers unsurely into her jacket.

“I’m not sure I’m following,” she says slowly, cautiously – eyes not leaving Alice for a second. “Because I’m thinking you’re saying you want to have sex with me and don’t remember signing up for that.” Her voice comes out weaker than she means to, swallowing as she drew her jacket closer around her. “Alice? Please?”

Alice eyes slowly shifts back to golden and she sighs a bit guiltily. “We were going to have a wonderful evening,” she says as she tips her head back to the sky. “And then I was going to taste you and you were going to love it.” There’s an edge of a pout creeping into her voice and Emmett throws his hands up when she turns an accusing look his way.

“Oh no, you can’t be angry at me for not playing to script I wasn’t aware of.”

“I _can,_” Alice assures him.

Bella’s eyes darts between the two, her grip on her jacket slowly loosening. “Is sex one of those things that vampires are more… liberal about?” she asks, quite unable to help the curiosity that edged up.

They both turn to her.

“Depends on the coven,” Alice answers after a brief moment, likely weighing her response with her gift. “We’re not really in the habit of sharing in the family but you… there’s something different about you,” she says with a little flare of her nose.

Bella ducks her head, not sure what to feel as she glances towards the forest where Esme and Carlisle had disappeared in with the rest of her new _siblings._

Family….

Having Esme and Carlisle accept her so completely was something Bella had only been ever to dream about and it is still new, heady and overwhelming and a constant wonder of _they love me._

She blows out a breath, startling as her phone buzzed and fishing it out of her pocket, lamp blinking

** _Daddy: _ ** _have fun tonight_

** _Mommy:_ ** _ we love you, baby girl_

She softens. “Why- why don’t we give this a second shot?” she suggests, looking up and find two golden eyes intent on her.

-

They squish down on the couch in the living room and Bella finds herself tight against Emmett who was large and broad enough that she pressed up beneath his armpit as he threw his arm out along the back of it.

Like the rest of the Cullen vampires there’s an undercurrent of sweetness to his scent – earthier, somehow, than Carlisle’s burnt one and Esme’s clean sweetness or even the light airiness of Alice's.

She finds herself kind of thankful vampires doesn’t sweat as she breathes in and shifts, trying to put a bit of distance between them only to have his arm drop down and pull her closer to him.

“Don’t be shy, baby sis,” he says and his eyes are warm when she peers up at him, his hand cold where it rests on her bicep.

Alice breeze in with a tall glass of Cosmopolitan topped with lime with an umbrella sidled through it as well as a straw and her eyes are hopeful as she places it down, peering up at Bella through her lashes.

“I promise only good things tonight,” Alice says, puppy eyes at full-blast. “Don’t you trust me?”

“I-“ Bella breathes out and a rumble of a laugh echoes through the chest she’s pushed up against. “Fine,” she says grudgingly. “I do trust you.”

And she does – claiming anything else would be lying.

“I’m still not having-“

But Alice has already disappeared when she looks up from the drink and Bella huffs as she reaches forward to grasp the glass, drawing her legs up as she shifts back with a curl of her back and a clink of the ice as she claimed the straw and sucked once, twice.

It is good – Alice hadn’t been lying when she claimed she made a mean Cosmopolitan and she hums as she detaches her mouth, tongue flicking up over her lip.

There's a voice at the back of her mind whispering _greedy_ as she sneaks a glance at her new big brother, a curl of want low in her belly that she forcefully pushes away.

She already had Esme and Carlisle - wishing for more...

She bites down on her lower lip only to pause when she feels Emmett’s thumb rub against her arm.

It’s an absent sort of thing that continues as Alice returns and wiggles into the space left on the couch, squishing Bella between the two vampires – pleasant coolness seeping through her clothing to send a brush of goosebumps up her arms.

“So – cards are out,” Alice says. “But there’s always some good old fashioned truth and dare.”

Bella perks up and Emmett tilts his head. “How are we deciding who gets to ask who?” he asks, nostrils flaring as he breathes in the scent of the human squished up against him to a flicker of a knowing look from Alice that made him bare his teeth, daring her to say anything.

The feel of her warmth against him was something he hadn’t been able to imagine and for all that he was faithful to Rosalie it took everything he had not to imagine in detail what it would feel like to have her spread out over his lap, or, even _better_-

“You don’t get to ask a person twice in a row,” Alice says. “I think we’re adult enough to manage _that_.”

Bella snorts into her glass but Emmett nods sagely. “Then – pixie dust, truth or dare?”

They work their way through some fairly innocent dares and questions – Bella taking her chance to ask some things she’d been curious about in regards to the vampire life as well as bits of interesting history they had experienced.

But it didn’t take long before it escalates, Emmett’s grin creeping as he fixated on the other vampire.

“Truth or dare?”

“Dare,” Alice answers smoothly as she shifts, knee pressing up against Bella’s foot as she fixed her gaze challengingly at her brother. 

“I dare you,” Emmett says as he does the same, tipping Bella slightly against him as she ended up further pressed against the couch while he reclined into the corner of it. “I dare you to put chocolate syrup on a pickle and _eat it._”

“I thought we were done with human food for the evening – no offense,” Alice says as she flickers away and returns with the items before Bella had time to as much as blink.

“_I _am,” Emmett assures her as the human presses back, looking vaguely nauseous as Alice tipped the bottle and poured a line down the green snack.

“I think I am as well,” Bella mutters into her glass, both of them staring in fascination as Alice plugged her nose up and took a large bite.

There was a moment where her teeth sunk through it with a crunch that it looked like Alice would be able to keep it down and then her face twisted in horror and Emmett chokes on a laugh as the pickle launched high, reaching out and snagging it on the down-path as Alice disappeared to a following noise of running water after loud and desperate spitting.

“You humans might be fond of chocolate but the stuff gets stuck absolutely _everywhere,_” Emmett confides as he rolls in into a wad of napkin which he fishes from his pocket and throws it onto the table. “And there’s few things that taste good to us so no brushing it out.”

“Evil,” Bella mutters, impressed and taking a sip of her Cosmopolitan.

Alice returns after several minutes, looking rather like a ruffled cat as she dropped down and pinned Emmett in place. “Truth or dare?”

“Dare,” he says with a little grin as Alice’s nostrils flare before she huffs.

“Show us the last picture you took with your phone,” she says, wiping at her front teeth with some paper as Emmett stilled – Alice’s expression slowly shifting in response to something her gift picked up on.

She gives him a long look. “Really, Emmett?”

“It’s just – anyway, you’ve seen it so I don’t have to pull it up, do I?” he asks as Bella tilts her head back, eyebrows climbing high.

“You still have to,” Alice says with a flash of her eyes. “Wouldn’t want to leave your baby sis out of it, do you?”

“Uh, yeah? I do?” Emmett grumbles, slanting a look down at Bella before breathing out in resignation and pulling his phone out. “If Rosie asks this is completely on you,” he tells Alice as he flicks it open and opens the picture fold, turning it obligingly to Bella who froze with her lips wrapped around the straw of her drink, red spreading over her face and down her throat, past the hem of her shirt as both vampires inhales in surprise as the flare of her scent.

The picture was of Emmett – artful where he rested on his knees, ropes looping around him in intricate knots, arms pinned behind his back and thighs spread where his cock strained against the front of his boxers. His gaze were lidded with want – focused on the photographer of the shot where he stared up with dark golden eyes through his lashes.

Bella squeaks and shoves it away from her.

“Rosie likes her ropes,” Emmett says, clearing his throat as he slipped it back into his pocket and Bella flushes, impossibly, darker. “It’s a thing, you know, shibari? Very intricate rope art–“

“Please don’t explain it to me,” Bella begs and Emmett’s mouth twitches, Alice nearly vibrating in her attempt to muffle her giggles at the other corner of the couch.

“Alright, alright,” he agrees, shifting the hand on her arm to give her hair a ruffle “Truth or dare?”

“Truth,” Bella says, cheeks still faintly pink.

“When is your birthday?”

Bella opens her mouth. Closes it. “13th of September,” she admits a bit grudgingly, mouth turning down.

“Hey now, what kind of reaction is that, baby bear?” Emmett asks, shifting to peer at her. "And that's next month!"

But Bella turns her head away and takes a deliberate sip of her drink, refusing to answer.

There’s a pleasant, growing warmth in her stomach as she fixates her attention on Alice, shoving any thoughts of her past birthdays firmly down to be ignored. “Truth or dare?”

“Dare,” Alice says after a flickering look exchanged with Emmett.

“I dare you to massage my feet for ten minutes,” Bella says, just a tad grumpily as she shoves a foot up into Alice’s lap, daring her to refuse.

“Fine by me,” Alice says, fingers dipping to snag at the hem of a sock. “Truth or dare?”

“Dare,” Bella agrees, comfortable in the knowledge that there wasn’t much she could be asked to do while Alice was still working on her own dare.

Alice hums, tapping her finger thoughtfully against her cheek as she considered, expression slowly shifting. “I dare you,” she says slyly, “to sit in Emmett’s lap for the duration of your massage.”

Bella pauses, eyes narrowing, but Emmett laughs and steals the drink from her hand and deposits it aside before scooping her up as simple as if she was a cloud of air to a startled noise as he drops her down in the middle of his legs which he drew up into a criss-cross, her rump dipping down in the space between them and back curling up against his broad chest.

Bella squirms and Emmett loops an arm around her waist to rest loose near her thighs while Alice scoots forward to grab for her bare foot, the coldness of her hand sending a shiver up her back.

“Comfortable?” Alice teases as she digs a thumb into the arch of her foot and Bella is quickly regretting her decisions as she inhales sharply, biting down on her lip with a slight groan as vampiric strength dragged up over her heel with a curve of a palm over it, tense muscles loosening to a twitch of her toes.

“Wait-“ Bella gasps, attempting to pull back as Alice pushed down, kneading her foot thoroughly as Bella squirmed back against Emmett, not quite sure what to do with herself as she let out a whimper, the arm around her tightening.

“Alice,” Emmett rumbles in warning but the pixie like vampires flashes dark golden in his direction and digs a thumb down to a jerk from the human.

“You said ten minutes,” Alice says pleasantly, eyes watching the human through her lashes. “It hasn’t even been _one._”

It’s torture – Alice’s hand working the muscles beneath her feet with firm attention as Bella digs her nails into Emmett’s thigh, the muscles in her back coiled tense as her breath stuttered, biting down hard on her lip to keep any embarrassing noises from slipping out, painfully aware of the way Emmett curled around her and Bella prayed that he didn’t notice the hardness of her nipple where his arm rested loosely across her chest.

“Alice-“ Bella begs when the vampire draws back but one foot is merely traded for another, eyes glittering.

“You asked for it,” Alice says with a little rumbling purr and Bella turns her head against Emmett’s chest, breath puffing against his neck as he lowered down to nuzzle against her with a low soothing noise echoing through his chest.

Bella can feel the curl of warmth low in her gut – the beginning of wetness between her legs making her cheeks darken and she swallows as she watches the way Alice’s nostrils flare, hands shifting higher, massaging her calves before sliding up to work against her thigh, body coiling closer to press up between her legs.

“Do you want me to stop?” Alice purrs, fingers trailing up to press teasingly against the fabric of her jeans in the middle of the apex of her thighs.

Bella trembles, Emmett still behind her, eyes so dark now that they were nearly black.

“I-“ Bella swallows thickly, disbelief coiling thick through her as she digs her fingers into Emmett’s thigh without a single twitch in response.

“I promised Mom and Dad we’d take real good care of our new baby sister,” Alice presses, fingers stroking teasingly. “A _welcome to the family_, if you will.”

“If she doesn’t want it-“ Emmett begins, voice dipping into a warning rumble.

“But she _does,_” Alice whispers, eyes knowing as she leant forward to drag her tongue up a throat that tilted to bare it further with a little whimper. “You’re safe here,” Alice murmurs softly against the sensitive skin. “Why don’t you let big brother and big sister take real good care of you, _hm_?”

Bella can feel the swell of Emmett’s cock against her back, her pussy wet and walls aching as Alice presses a kiss to the bottom of her ear and then her cheek, lips curling into a smile when Bella turned her head, catching what was meant for the corner of her mouth into a full lips-on-lips kiss, Alice tilting her head as their mouths dragged together.

_“Fuck,”_ Emmett says with some emphasis, a shiver running through Bella as his large hand made short work of the button and zipper of her pants and pushed them half-way down her rump, snapping the fabric of her panties and discarding them aside before curling to press two fingers into her with an arch of her hips and a startled noise as he spread her open on large thick fingers.

One hand darts down to grasp at his as he didn’t hesitate to work them firmly into her, groaning at the way her wet warm walls clenched down around him, trying to pull him deeper as he curled his wrist and grinded down against her clit to a muffled moan into Alice’s mouth.

“Just so,” Alice whispers, voice heady as she watches the way Emmett takes her, his arm tightening to keep their little one pinned as he pulled out and pushed back inside, giving her little choice but to take more and more of him, trapped by the fabric of her jeans and unable to open wider as she jerks up against him, gasping as a third finger pressed up against her to sink inside, toes curling and a whimper escaping her as she pressed down, trying to escape the intense pressure but unable to as he spread her out, sinking into her all the way to his knuckles.

“Jesus,” Emmett groans. “Look at you, baby bear-“ He spreads his fingers and she whines, nails digging into his skin until he eases them down. “She’s so damn _warm_, Alice-“

He gives her ear a nip, pressing down as he grinded his bulge up against her ass, simply keeping his fingers inside of her as her walls clenches and drags against him, trying to urge him into movement.

Alice purrs as she dips down and Bella jerks at the first drag of her tongue over her clit, groaning as Alice’s mouth sealed over it, sucking rhythmically as Emmett rubbed the pads of his fingers against the nerves inside her vagina, the stretch edging on uncomfortable even as desire coiled tense inside her, walls clenching down hard to a low growl.

Trapped between the two them Bella isn’t given much choice – hitching her hips up as Alice’s tongue flattened cold and hard against her clit and Emmett twisted his fingers up inside of her to a gasp as she came.

Wetness spills over Emmett’s fingers as he curls them, pulling slowly out of her and spreading his fingers with darkening eyes at the sight of the sticky wetness clinging to them.

He draws them to his mouth and sucks down with a guttural growl and Alice rumbles, grasping at Bella’s thigh to keep her still as her tongue dove into the human, wiggling to taste her with broad hungry strokes as Bella squirmed, eyes fixated on the way Emmett’s tongue dragged from the bottom of his fingers and up, unashamedly cleaning every last lick of want away from them.

“So good,” he tells her, eyes dark when they meet her own, tongue flicking over his lip before he dove to claim hers, an icy tongue sweeping into her mouth as she opened up with a whimper, tasting herself as he growled low against her lips. “I want you to taste me, little one,” Emmett rumbles as she jerks up against Alice’s mouth only to get a teasing flick of a tongue against her clit. “Can you do that?” he asks, breath cold against her lips before he angles down, sucking against her neck. “Suck on big brother’s cock?”

_“Yes-“ _Bella gasps and whines as Alice pulls away from between her hips only to find herself spun onto her hands and knees, flushing as her jeans were yanked down and off, hands working quick to free her off her shirt while Emmett wiggled his jeans and boxers down just enough to free his cock.

It looked, impossibly, larger than it had in the picture and Bella shivers as his hand coils tight around her hair and gives her little choice but to bend down, shivering as he smeared the bead of pre cum over her lips, well aware of how much vampires enjoyed scent marking.

He finally nudges the large head up against her mouth, purring low as she opened her mouth, a whine leaving her as he pressed down on her, forcing her jaw to strain wide, unable to swallow the saliva that formed in response, tongue curling to rub it against him.

She gags, quivering as he pushes her deeper and deeper, curling into her throat as her hand darts out to grasp as his thighs, bending her back as her throat works painfully around him, her tongue flattening against the underside of his cock as he gave her an encouraging pull until the last few inches disappeared into her, eyes prickling with tears that trailed down and over her nose to drip against his pubis hair.

She feels him throb inside of her, feels the thickness and the strange iciness of him as she strains, jerking when the lack of air became a fact and he reluctantly eases his grip, just enough to let her pull up for a new breath before burying her down again, ignoring the way she tenses and gags, more tears dripping down her cheeks as he presses his hips up, balls pushing against her chin.

“So damn _warm,_” he groans, wanting nothing more than to stay in the delicious heat of her mouth forever, flicking an absent eye to Alice as the pixie like vampire returned with a box, quirking a mischievous little grin as she dipped down to pull out an anal plug in rosy glass with a little wiggle.

“Oh you’re in for a treat, baby sis,” Emmett tells her as he eases her up to a gasped breath before forcing her down again, pulling at her hair to guide her into a slow and deep bobbing motion as she stares up at him through wet lashes. “We're going to take good care of you,” he promises as Alice settles behind her and spreads her cheeks, wasting no time in pushing forward to drag her tongue up against her puckered entrance to a flare of doe brown eyes.

Emmett spreads his thighs just a little bit more to, relaxing back against the armrest as his baby sis jerks, groaning around his cock as Alice presses the anal toy up against her wet pussy and sinks it into her, giving it a little spin to make sure it was liberally coated before leaving it there as she works her tongue against the fluttering pink entrance, the hilt of the toy shifting as Bella’s walls ripples around it.

Satisfied with her work Alice pulls back and drags the pretty pink glass toy out of her to press it up against her back entrance – watching in fascination as Bella’s tight ring strained wide as she pushes forward, holding it still for a moment at the widest point before allowing the tight ring of muscles to settle around the handle to a groan and a little jerk of Bella’s hips.

“So pretty,” Alice rumbles, pressing a kiss to her buttock. “Isn’t she just the best?” she sighs to Emmett.

Bella gags, whining around Emmett’s cock as he pushed her down and gave a little jerk of his hips, his pubis hair tickling against her nose as he tensed, pinning her in place and giving her no choice but to swallow his cum which splattered thick and cold down her throat.

“She is,” he groans in agreement, hips jerking up as her throat constricted around him. “It really would have been unfair if Ma and Pa kept her to themselves,” he says, voice strained as he slowly relinquished his hold on her head, swallowing as the human remained still, eyes wet and lips spread swollen around his half-hard cock which rested against her tongue.

He drags an appreciative thumb against her cheek, unable to resist giving it a lick to taste the salt of her tears before resting a hand against the back of her head, with a rumble of contentedness.

Alice pulls teasingly at the plug, admiring the contrast of soft glass pink against the pale cheeks of the human as her fingers dips down to sink into her, groaning as the warmth surged tight and wet around her in response, a little tremble running through Bella’s back.

“You like taking care of your brother and sister, don’t you?” Emmett rumbles as he slowly hardens and she blinks doe brown eyes, a low whine muffled against him as she flattened her tongue up against his cock, licking it all the way to the top before pulling off him only to press down and stroke his cock along her neck, smearing his scent upon her.

“My turn,” Alice says, eyes lidded as she tugged the human around, already bare as she curled her back up, and folded her legs around Bella’s neck, dragging her down and against her pussy.

She rubs herself firmly against the human’s face, smearing her wetness over her nose and lips with a jerk as a warm tongue flattened over her clit. “Good girl,” Alice gasps. “Oh baby sis – just like that-“ Alice rumbles low as Bella pushes into her, deliciously warm against cold wet walls. “So good – such a good little one,” she praises.

Emmett nudges the box on the floor open, peering in with interest as Alice grinds herself slow and firm against an eager mouth, dark eyes shifting to watch as he twirled a paddle experimentally before discarding it aside and digging deeper, hand curling with a little twitch of his lips as he pulled out a pair of dark leather cuffs with an inside of baby blue.

He secures them around one wrist, tugging it firmly up and behind her back as she tensed, tongue pausing momentarily before Alice gave her a firm tug and Emmett grasped for her other hand, securing them tight.

“You know, baby bear – most of these are just for show when it comes to us. A little chain like this-“ He gives it a little tug, nearly overbalancing her and forcing her hips low against the couch to remain where she bent awkwardly down with a curl of her back to reach Alice’s pussy, “it’s nothing to a vampire. But to a human like you…” He grins, leaning forward to press his cock between her hands as they curled the best they could around him, allowing him to drag back and forth in her warmth and over her back.

“I wish I could fuck you properly,” Emmett groans as he pushes forward with increasing force and Bella sucks harder on Alice’s clit. “Fill you all up – but some things are just for _Mommy_ and _Daddy_, aren’t they?” he teases knowingly.

Bella jerks, a muffled grunt leaving her as Alice pressed her down hard and she curls her tongue into cold walls to lap at the wetness there as the vampire slowly relaxed her grip, brushing gently over brown hair as Bella kept eating her out with eager drags of her tongue and little responding twitches of Alice's hips.

Alice finally pushes her off and Bella looks at her – lips, nose and chin smeared with her wetness, pupils blown wide inside the brown of her eyes, red dusting her cheeks and creeping down her small chest which jutted forward with the strain of the cuffs keeping her arms bent back.

Alice gave a shuddering sigh as the look, nudging Bella’s chin up to claim her mouth to a little whimper.

“You’ve done so good, little one,” Alice whispers into her ear as Emmett curls his hand around hers to tighten around him as he ruts against her back. “Mom and Dad are going to be so proud of you for allowing us to take care of you,” she promises, nose flaring as she inhales the scent of her and Emmett mixing with the claim from Esme and Carlisle. “_I’m_ proud of you,” she whispers, stroking a gentle thumb against the human’s cheek as she rocks with the force of Emmett’s thrusts until he finally stilts, cum splattering against a pale back as he growled low and possessive – eyes nearly black as his nose flared before they slowly relaxed into a dark golden.

He presses himself between her hands, forcing her to milk the last of the cum onto herself before slowly pulling off her and collapsing back in a sprawl, hand wrapping around his cock and twisting up and over the head, watching as his cum slowly dribbled down her skin and over the flat head of the toy between her cheeks.

Alice kisses her forehead, her cheek, her lips and then pulls her up as she wiggles down, dipping Bella’s knees down on either side of her head and pulling down on her thighs, purring low as she lapped up against the human who jerks with every cold lick.

The hard pounding of her heart slowly eases as she trembles, groaning low in her ragged throat as her neck bent and she spread her thighs further in encouragement.

-

“I’m sure they’ve been fine,” Carlisle reassures as the house comes into sight and gravel crunches beneath their feet only to have the door throw wide open.

Any worry and anxiety melts right off her as Esme opens her arms, her little one’s arms curling around her neck as she launched herself towards her, warmth filling up every inch of her as she spun their girl around to a giggle against her neck, brown eyes glittering brightly as Bella pushed back just enough to peer down on Esme as she looped an arm beneath her rump to keep her secure.

“Missed you,” Bella confesses, leaning down to nuzzle against her.

“Missed you too, baby girl,” Esme reassures her, stealing a kiss for herself.

“Did you have fun?” Carlisle asks, reaching to brush a thumb knowingly against the skin of her cheek.

“Mm,” Bella agrees. “Big brother and big sister took care of me,” she says, something shy in her gaze at the confession.

“Oh I bet they did,” Carlisle says, tilting her head and claiming her mouth to a little whimper. “But I bet you want some time with Mommy and Daddy, don’t you baby girl?” he rumbles against her skin in a brush of cold and a nip of teeth against her jaw.

_“Yes,”_ she breathes, tightening her grip on Esme’s shirt as they carried her into the house.

-

Bella glances up momentarily, just before the door closes behind them, feeling eyes upon her and catching the golden gaze of the blonde leaning against one of the trees, something unreadable in the cold of eyes as she flashes an unkind smile.


	2. Crashing

”They think what now?” Bella asks, pausing and turning around to stare at her brother with wide eyes.

“It’s been all over the school,” Emmett tells her where he’s lounging back on his chair, having been her self-assigned breakfast companion for the Monday morning routine. “We’re all paired off, you see – Rosie and I, Alice and Jasper and then Edward and, well, _you._”

Bella straightens up, blowing out a harsh breath with a creep of pink on her cheeks. “That’s the only reason they can see me spending time with you?”

“Or us with anyone,” Emmett agrees, tipping his chair back into position with a _clack._ “Alice said it’s going to be particularly bad today so – just a heads-up. It’s too sunny for any of us to risk it so you’re going to be bearing the brunt of it,” he says with a sympathetic smile when she grimaces.

The rest of the family had already left to spend the week with the Denali’s instead of loitering about and Emmet would be the last one to go.

Esme and Carlisle had remained as long as they could but as the head of the Coven there were vampire politics to take into consideration and while Bella didn’t pretend to understand it all she knew that vampires had a sense for hierarchy and instincts that she lacked as a human.

It did leave her feeling a bit left-out, being the only one not to go, but both Esme and Carlisle had taken a through time to scent mark her and Bella was hard-struggled not to blush when Emmett gave her a wide-eyed look and a whistle when she crawled out of bed to join him.

It had been… intense.

And wonderful.

And Bella really wasn’t looking forward to spending an entire week without them but she was still bound to Charlie as long as the Cullen’s were remaining in Forks because anything else would draw too much attention to them.

And that was the last thing a coven of vampire wanted.

Her relationship to Charlie had only grown more complicated and distant, too, since their conversation and Bella _really_ wasn’t looking forward to this week _at all._

“Chin up, baby bear,” Emmett says, draping an arm over her shoulder and pulling her close to him. “We’re all a phone call away and if it gets bad just let us know and we’ll get _Daddy_ to call in sick for you.” Bella flushes at the way he lowers his voice into a little rumble, giving him a little shove with her shoulder to a laugh as he releases her.

“I’ll be fine,” she tells him, aiming for bravery as she draws her backpack up onto her shoulder and meets his gaze, recognising the slight crease of his brow for the worry that it was.

“You humans are all so very fragile,” he grumbles as he places a hand on top of her head and pulls her forward, forehead pushing up against his chest. “I’m seriously though, stay safe, okay?”

“I promise big brother,” she assures him as she wiggles out of his grip. “I made it nearly seventeen years without you. A week will be a breeze.”

He snorts as he gives her hair a little ruffle.

“Cheeky,” he tells her with a little flick at her nose.

-

Monday is not a good day.

It’s a decision made as she’s sweeping the pieces of her phone from the bathroom floor, a heavy resignation in her chest as the door swung shut behind Lauren’s tittering back as she straightened up to pour the pieces into the garbage bin.

The old niggling anxiousness about _money_ rears up and she spends the better part of Biology mentally tallying through her savings instead of listening to a single word coming out of Mr Banner’s mouth and her stomach is so knotted up by lunch that she nearly decides to skip it completely.

Only the knowledge that Alice could get a hint of the decision, even so far away, makes her snag up an apple and she eats it on a bench outside, huddling up with her hood pulled up high over her head and trying not to feel miserable as she kicks her legs absently, a book open in her lap but not unable to focus on it as she squints out over the rare sunny parking lot.

Dinner with Charlie is an awkward thing that makes the food taste like ash and she excuses herself early, scraping the food into the trash and swallowing as she closed the door to her room – leaning back against it briefly as she breathed out, her heart pounding strangely loud in her chest.

There’s an old phone in her room – still connected, thankfully, and Bella digs mentally for the number she carried with her everywhere, turning the face of it and letting go as she worked her way slowly through it before sliding down against the door and draws her backpack closer, staring at the little tuft of blue that peeked out from its depth as the phone rang once, twice before-

_“Hello?” _Esme says and Bella closes her eyes, drawing a breath as her voice fell soothingly against her senses.

“Hi, Mom,” she says, lowering her voice to keep Charlie from overhearing.

_“Hi there, baby girl.”_ Esme’s voice warms, softens. _“I heard you had a bit of an accident at school today.”_

“Uh-huh,” Bella agrees, drawing the receiver just a tad closer. “I’m gonna have to get to Port Angeles to get a new one so-“

_“No phone until the weekend,”_ Esme finishes with a curl of displeasure through her voice that makes Bella’s heart twist up.

If only she wasn’t so damn _clumsy-_

_“I’m not really happy about that but nothing we can do about now,” _Esme says with a little sigh. _“Are you okay, little one? You didn’t cut yourself picking it up?” _

“I’m fine,” Bella reassures her, knuckles turning white around the receiver. “Emmett get there okay?”

_“He did,”_ Esme tells her warmly before there’s a rustle and that strange buzz that signified a vampire speaking too fast for a human to pick up on and Esme sighs before she speaks up again. “_I have to go, little one. But why don’t you call tomorrow and let Mommy know everything is alright with her baby girl, hm?” _

Bella can’t stop the responding whimper to the purr on those last words – hand shooting down between her legs to grasp at the front of her jeans when she clenched down in response.

_“Are you going to be thinking of Mommy tonight?”_ There’s a knowing dip to her words that makes Bella go red.

“Yes,” she admits, swallowing as she undid the front of her jeans and dipped her hand down – too warm and lacking the wonderful contrasting coldness of a vampire’s as she cupped herself, fingers sliding down to rub over her clit as she bit down on her lower lip.

_“Good,”_ Esme rumbles possessively._ “And you remember what Mommy said about substitutions?”_

Bella colours red, fingers stilling and slowly curling into a fist, silence stretching between them.

_“Bella-“ _

“I remember,” she forces out, swallowing as she averted her eyes from her bag.

_“I really have to go, baby girl, but I love you – we both love you so very much, okay? We just want to make sure you’re safe.”_

“I know,” Bella says even as misery curls in her gut. “Night, Mom. Tell Dad I-“

_“I will,”_ Esme assures her, voice warm. _“Sweet dreams, baby.”_

The sound of the dial tone makes her slowly relinquish the phone and push it back in place, reaching and twisting the key in the door behind her even as she picked up the loud cheers from the living room below, the commentators muffled voice a familiar background noise inside the Swan residence.

She stares at her backpack, slowly reaching out with her foot and tipping it over only to have Lizzy the blue elephant tumbling out, her cheeks growing red with humiliation as she stares down at the pacifier connected with a fine striped band to the throat of the toy.

Suddenly not in the mood anymore she rises and snags it up, shoving them both back into her bag and zipping it up before throwing it aside and collapsing down on her bed, curling to stare at the purple painted walls with a heavy feeling in her chest.

-

Tuesday isn’t much better and by Friday Bella is completely and utterly fed-up by the rumours in the school and the glaring of jealous eyes following her whenever she turned.

Her denial of having anything to do with Edward is met with scepticism at best and Bella stares after one such curious asker, mouth open after he’d elbowed her with a very exaggerated wink and two finger guns.

There’s something stifling in the inability to pull her phone up and send Alice a lamenting text about the stupidity of it all and she feels strangely lonely as she closes her book for the hundredth time that week without having read more than a handful of words and shoulders her bag up for the last lesson.

-

Bella is barely out of her truck before Charlie throws her a jacket – thicker than the one she had brought with her from Phoenix all those months ago.

“Charlie?”

“There’s a bonfire down at the reservation,” he says just a tad gruffly. “You’ve been moping all week – a distraction would do you well. I’ll drive you and Jake promised he’d get you home if you stay past ten.”

Bella draws the jacket closer, not recognizing it but hesitating for only a moment longer before stripping off the thin one she was wearing to throw it into her truck before locking it up, shrugging on the new one with a little breath of relief as warmth almost immediately enveloped her. “Are you sure they’ll be okay with me joining them?” she asks even as the promise of talking to someone who wasn’t caught up in the rumours about her and Edward made her perk up as she trotted over to the passenger side of the police car.

“It’ll be fine,” Charlie says, just a smidge warmer now that she hadn’t outright rejected his idea. “You want to pick up something to eat on the way?” he asks as he starts up the car and rolls out of the driveway with a little bump.

“Yes, please,” Bella agrees, ducking her chin into the high-collar and discreetly edging a hand up to snag off the price-tag at the back of her neck while pretending to fix up her hair, a soft smile on her lips as she turned her attention to the world passing by outside the window.

-

Jake is already waving to her when Charlie drops her off – his hair long and black and his skin a warm brown colour that makes him stand out like a breath of fresh air against all the wet green behind him.

“Hi Jake,” she says as she buries deeper into her jacket – not really cold but taking comfort in it all the same.

“Nice to see you again my fellow mudster,” he greets her with a dimple in his cheek, jacket half-open to reveal a t-shirt with an abstract lined wolf upon it. “You’re in for a treat tonight,” he tells her as they wave goodbye to Charlie as he backed out. “Elder Quil is sharing the old legends."

There’s something very boyish about Jake and Bella finds herself slowly relaxing beside him as he keeps up an easy conversation while he leads them down through the darkening forest until a light glow catches their attention and he makes a triumphant little noise and waves wide to one of the boys there.

“Hey, Embry- meet Bella.“ The one who responds to the call is taller than Jake but also lankier with long russet brown hair, his earlobes stretched by wooden plugs with a scrawl of intricate black looping on the inside of it.

He draws an armful of firewood up below his armpit and offers a friendly grin.

“You here for the bonfire?” he asks with a little tilt of his head. “We’re still gathering the last of the wood but the corn dogs are just about to hit the fryer and someone brought apple wood for the barbeque so some lamb happening later tonight.”

“Who’s in charge of the fryer?” Jake asks as he glances towards the house just visible through the trees behind Embry – nostrils flaring as if hoping to get a scent of it.

Embry’s grin turns positively smug. “Emily,” he says and Jake’s stomach grumbles in response to the name. “Means we got Sam lurking about as well,” he says, lowering just voice just a smidge. “But – worth it.” His eyes flicks to hers again. “You can either help with the cooking or help gather the last of the wood for the bonfire,” he tells her. “See you later!” he calls, waving as he trotted off into the forest.

Jake turns to her, a sheepish sort of dip to his brow. “Don’t take this the wrong way-“ he begins.

Bella throws up her hands. “Don’t worry about it, dude,” she says, mouth twitching up a self-deprecatingly. “Me stumbling about in a foreign dark forest is not a good idea in any way. But you better introduce me to someone before you disappear out,” she says, bumping her shoulder against his, and he laughs as he obligingly gives her jacket a little tug and leads the last of the way.

There’s a little curl of anxious nerves in her belly as she scrapes her boots off and peers inside into the warmth and chatter after passing through a clearing with a long table waiting not far from the growing pile of wood inside a circle with carved trunks from fallen trees and flat stones to offer comfortable seating places

There’s more than one pair of curious eye glancing briefly at her but most of them turn away pretty quickly and Bella can’t help but be helplessly thankful for it.

She’d grown desperately tired of the curious eyes in Forks high.

“Emily- hey, Emily-“ Jake snags down a beautiful woman with dark brown skin, dark eyes and dark hair who deposits a large cherry pie on a waiting table before ducking past one of the many people moving in and out with arms loaded up with tableware and drinks of different sorts.

“Jake,” she greets warmly and pulls him into a quick hug, giving Bella a chance to hide the widening of her eyes before dark eyes flicked knowingly up to her as she released him. “And you are…?”

“Bella Swan,” she introduces herself with a little brush of pink on her cheeks, forcing herself not to stare at the thick scars that tore over her face.

“Charlie Swan’s daughter?” she asks and Bella dips her head. “I heard a rumour you were back in town, it’s nice to see you down here at the reservation,” she says warmly. “Scurry off, Jake – your friend is in good hands.” She gives him a little pat on the head which he gives a half-hearted push at.

“Embry said the corndogs were in the fryer…” Jake says, doing a wonderful attempt at puppy eyes only to get a snort in return.

“You’ll have to wait like everyone else,” Emily says, giving him a little push out. “Now hurry up.” She turns back to Bella who tries very hard not to feel out of her depth but likely failing miserable judging by the sympathetic look from the other. “Not used to large gatherings?”

“Not really,” Bella says, shaking her head.

“Don’t worry too much about it,” Emily says with a little pat to her cheek. “No one is expecting you to really be of any real help as an outsider so feel free to keep me company and help where you can and you’ll be fine.”

-

It’s hard not to like Emily, Bella decides as she follows at her heel, doing her absolute best not to be in her way as she worked with easy confident to keep everything in order – managing to keep up a light conversation with Bella while simultaneously directing the many callers of her name with questions and request and making sure none of the food was being forgotten as plates and bowls filled up around them.

And maybe it’s been a long week and she’s really missing her Mom because there’s something about Emily that reminds her of Esme and she can’t help but crave the easy touches of the other even as guilt twists up inside of her and she has to struggle not to lean in when Emily’s fingers touches briefly to tuck some hair behind her ear when she’s pulling one of the pies out from the oven.

“Careful,” she says with a little smile before turning away and Bella glances towards her backpack, swallowing as she carefully placed it onto the table among the rest.

But despite the ache and longing everything is going well.

Until it isn’t.

And then everything is going wrong and Bella finds herself staring into a pair of dark eyes, his nostrils flaring and a shiver running down her spine – because whatever Sam Uley is it wasn’t human and whatever scents he was picking up on her wasn’t making him very happy at all.

She finds herself wondering, with not a little bit of mortification, even as she shrinks back, if he could smell the way both Esme and Carlisle had marked her before they left.

“Bella Swan,” he rumbles after Emily’s introduction, eyes dark and suspicious. “You’re the Chief’s daughter.”

“Y-yeah,” Bella swallows, throat suddenly too dry.

“Rumour has it you’re dating that Cullen boy – Edward, was it?”

Beside them Emily’s eyes flicks from her husband to Bella with new understanding. “Sam,” she says as they both look to her. “This isn’t really the place,” she cautions him with a meaningful look around.

His eyes shifts to Bella’s, lingering searchingly for a long moment before he huffs and turns to place a possessive kiss on his wife’s scarred cheek and stepping out of the kitchen and down the stairs as Bella’s stomach twists – suddenly not feeling very hungry at all, was in fact nauseous, and excusing herself with a tumble of words and pretending not to hear Emily's call as she snatched up her bag.

Her hand darts for her phone as she stumbles away from the scent of food only to remember that she didn’t have one and she collapses against one of the many trees, heart pounding too loud in her chest as she tucked her chin into her jacket with a little quiver and breathed in the cool air before she sunk to the ground and drew her bag into her arms, well hidden by the bushes.

Confrontations had never been Bella’s strong suit and it didn’t take long for the reality of her cowardice to settle in as the back of her head hit the tree with a _thunk._

_I want Mommy._

The words a whisper of a brush against her mind, a guilty sort of craving.

_Weak, _her mind whispers. _Can’t you do anything by yourself? _

But the week has been long and shitty and her family is spending time together without her and she’s feeling just a smidge lonely and vulnerable among strangers as she hunches over her backpack, one hand dipping into it to curl reassuringly around a fluffy blue ear and forcing her jaw to relax where she’d bitten down on her lip hard enough to make her bruise.

And the world is suddenly tipping and Bella doesn't feel very old at all - feels small and lonely and afraid in a way that she doesn't like at all.

“Bella?” She tenses when Emily suddenly appears in front of her, crouching down and with a little tilt of her head. “The bonfire is burning and the food is done – do you feel like joining us?”

But Emily’s warm smile only knots up the ugly tension inside of Bella and she shakes her head, afraid of what noise she’d make if she was to open her mouth.

Emily’s brow dip and Bella’s shoulders coils tenser as the woman hesitates but then leans forward, fingers touching gently against Bella’s cheek as she quivers – unable to resist tilting into it with a little shudder, squeezing her eyes shut as Emily rubs her thumb gently against her cheek.

There’s realization settling in the dark of Emily’s eyes – studying the way Bella has all but curled around her backpack, something young and terribly vulnerable in the brown eyes that opens up to peer at her. 

“Where’s your Mommy, little one?” Emily coos and Bella’s hand tightens around the elephant inside her bag, mortification and need wrestling against each other. “Or is it Daddy you want, hm?” she asks, voice so soft, so soft now that Bella finds herself completely unable to look away. “Or both, maybe?” A low noise escapes her and Emily’s mouth curl up, pulling at the scars on her face. “Both then,” she agrees, straightening out just enough to peer about. “Sam?” she calls.

Bella tenses, hunching further on herself but Emily makes a low soothing noise a bit distractedly, peering about until her husband melted out at her side – eyes already pinned on the girl on the ground.

“She’s one of the Cullen’s,” Sam rumbles, arms folding up.

“She’s human and she’s currently here with us,” Emily shoots back.

His nose flares. “If you could only _smell her_-“

“Sam.”

He meets her gaze for a long moment before a sigh worms its way out of his mouth and he sinks to a knee beside her and in front of Chief Swan’s daughter.

Small and vulnerable with too dark smudges beneath her eyes – she didn’t look like the sort to get involved with vampires but the scent that clung to her was undeniable.

It brought a brush of colour to his cheeks the more he inhaled of her because there were at least two scents clinging to her – one male and one female - and they’d been _through._

“The scent – it’s almost a week old,” he says just a tad grudgingly and Emily makes a sympathetic sort of noise, something tugging low in her belly as his wife cupped the girl’s cheek. “It’s been sunny so they’re out of town as the treaty demands.”

“We can’t leave her here,” Emily says softly. “Will you carry her?” she asks, looking up, and only a fool would deny such a beautiful creature, Sam thinks, shifting to curl an arm behind Bella’s back, the other dipping down beneath her knees and scooping her up as easy as if she weighed nothing.

“I’ll tell Jake his friend felt a bit sick and that we’re taking care of her,” Emily says, glancing hesitantly towards the girl. “I’ll catch up with you soon,” she promises, giving his shirt a little tug to make him bend down and they shared a kiss before she gave him a little push into the forest.

Sam huffs, fond and warm as he turns and moves on silent, bare feet into the darkness of the forest.

In his arms the girl shifts, a hand curling hesitantly into his shirt to seek reassurance and his wolfish eyes easily picks up on the way her gaze shifts to his face and then to the backpack in her lap, teeth working hard on an already bruised lip.

He frowns.

“You shouldn’t do that,” he tells her, eyes dipping meaningfully, and she pauses, something very close to guilt flashing in the brown of her eyes as she averted them aside and reluctantly released it.

“When I heard a human had gotten mixed up with the Cullen’s you aren’t quite what I imagined,” he continues after a while, awkward and a bit stilted – not really one for small talk. “It’s hard to imagine anyone getting involved with the cold ones,” he adds, mostly to himself with a little huff.

“You-“ But there’s something thick in her voice, a tremble that makes him frown and draw her just a little bit closer.

“I’m a shapeshifter,” he tells her, guessing the train of her thought. “Wolf one,” he clarifies and her eyes flicks up, likely studying the slight shine they’d taken since his first transformation.

“Warm,” she whispers and he grunts in agreement.

He was - ridiculously so compared to her vampires.

They reach the house fairly quick, to his relief, and he deposits her down on their bed after only a brief moment of hesitance – aware of the way it smelt of both himself and Emily but not quite willing to leave her on the couch where anyone could walk in, especially not when she was in such a vulnerable state of mind.

He helps her out of the jacket and into one of his hoodies instead when she shivers – checking the pockets before he deposits it aside.

Sam isn’t a complicated man and he isn’t one to judge, even if he kept his reservations when it came to the cold ones for all that Carlisle Cullen made it hard to feel anything but respect for the work he did for the community.

If Bella Swan had made the choice to be with them that was on her even if his instincts urged to make sure it was a fully informed decision.

Which would have to wait for another day when the girl wasn’t dipping down into a state very akin to subspace – something he and Emily had brought Leah out of on more than one occasion when his ex-girlfriend had all but crashed when refusing to allow anyone to take her off the edge.

They’d done their reading and reassurance and a craving for someone to bring structure and a promise of love – Sam could see why such a thing would appeal to some, whatever the shape it took.

He tilts his head, studying the way her hand had disappeared back into her backpack again, clearly struggling to bring herself out of the state she’d crashed quite beautifully into but not quite able to.

_New to it then_, he thinks, tallying a mental map back from when Billy had first made mention of Chief Swan’s daughter. _And likely her first time away from them without any contact._

They remain mostly in silence as they wait for Emily to make her appearance, his shoulders relaxing a good ten minutes before the door opens downstairs and she makes her way up without a step of hesitation as she ducked into the room.

“Hey there,” she says, voice lowering into something softer – a tone he’d heard her take on more than one occasion when interacting with kids. “Uncle Sam take good care of you?”

_Uncle-_

Sam gives her a flat look but Emily ignores him, toing her shoes off and crawling up onto the bed, tensely watched, the girl’s head turning as Emily settled back against the headboard and spread her arms out. “Come to Aunt Emily,” she coos and Bella’s breathing stills, her heart still beating loud inside her chest as Emily wiggles her fingers and she slowly shifts – one hand grasping to drag the bag along as she settled – tense as a bowstring – just inches why of touching the other.

But then Emily was folding around her and Sam watches Bella all but melt – a shudder running through her and then a low noise as she relaxed back into Emily’s warmth and reassurance with a little quiver.

“I phoned Leah on the way here,” Emily tells him as she shifted the girl more comfortably against herself, resting her chin on top of her head. “Familiarity and reassurance, she said. Do you know if she has a phone? Someone to call?”

“No,” Sam says, trying very hard not to linger on the fact that he very much liked the picture the two of them made. “If she has one it’s likely in her bag – there was none in her jacket.”

Bella tenses at the mention of her bag, drawing it closer, shoulders curling up.

“You know pup-“ And Sam does absolutely not shiver, he does _not._ “I bet Uncle Sam would love to see what you have in your bag,” Emily coos as the girl glances up, eyes large and unsure.

“Uh- yeah,” Sam blurts, still stuck on the word _pup _and clearing his throat. “I’d like that,” he says, feeling clumsy and awkward when Emily’s eyes practically glitters in amusement. “If you’d like to show me,” he adds a bit belatedly.

“Not-“ Her mouth twist oddly. “Not laugh,” she gets out, pressing closer to Emily. “Promise?”

“I promise,” he assures her solemnly, hesitating but wiping his bare feet a bit guiltily on the carpet before settling onto the bed with the two of them.

Bella’s shoulders eases slightly but she still watches him carefully as he bends forward and pulls the zipper open, blinking at the blue elephant that stared up at him.

“Lizzy,” Bella offers as explanation as he gingerly reached down to scoop it up, an _ah_ of a realization flittering through his mind as a pacifier swung with it only to be snatched through the air, the little plastic clip relinquishing its hold willingly as she shoved down between her legs, cheeks turning red as she turned her head away – refusing to look at either of them.

Sam clears his throat and pulls the bag closer to himself after dropping the elephant into his wife’s hand, rummaging through the small compartment and breathing out in relief when he found a folded little note.

_Mommy_

_xxx-xxxxx-xx_

_Daddy_

_xxx-xxxxx-xx_

Doing his best to curb a blush Sam excused himself, closing the door behind him as he mentally prepared himself for what was likely going to be the most awkward conversation in his life.

-

“It’s nothing to be ashamed of,” Emily cooes, mouth tugging in amusement as Bella looked ready to melt through the floor.

It was curious to watch the way she struggled against instincts while quite unable to resist drawing the plush elephant into her arms, seeking reassurance in its presence.

It is different from Leah’s subspace, she decides, but not that far apart – Leah had always craved a firm hand and something told her that Bella was likely much the same even if part of Emily wanted nothing more than to squish her up close and keep her very safe.

“It’s just a pacifier,” she says as Bela colours darker. “I bet Mommy gave it to you because of _this.” _Emily touches her fingers to a badly bruised lip where teeth had sunk down hard to a little wince as brown eyes turned to peer guiltily at her. “She did, didn’t she?” Emily presses gently. “It’s nothing to be ashamed of – we all need a bit of reassurance sometimes. Why don’t you show it to me, hm?” 

Slowly, very slowly, a hand lifts to shove it in her direction without looking at it and Emily blinks – humming as she studied the soft blue colour which matched the elephant, fighting down a twitching smile at the cursive _Mommy’s Little One_ on the front of it.

“I think it suits you really well,” she assures the other to an unsure look. “May I?” she asks and then Bella doesn’t protest she gently takes it into her hand and shifts, pressing the rubber nipple up against lips that slowly and with great reluctance parted to allow it inside.

And Emily doesn’t melt when those lips gives a small suck and then a second, eyes lidding, tension bleeding out as she turned to bury closer into her arms.

She really doesn’t.

-

_“Carlisle Cullen.”_

Sam stares into the forest – half of him having hoped that his nose had been wrong and that he wouldn’t have to have this conversation with the vampire Doctor, the other half of him very relieved that it was a vampire that he at least knew could be reasoned with.

He isn’t quite sure what he would have done if he found himself ear to ear with that blond scarred vamp who looked as if he’d left all conversation skills back in whatever century he was from.

“Sam Uley,” he greets, his ears picking up on the sudden stillness from the other side of the phone as he shifts, giving a mental sigh as he struggled with what words to use.

_“Mr Uley-“_

“Sam, please,” he interrupts.

_“Sam, then,”_ comes after a brief pause. _“To what do I owe the pleasure?” _

Sam glances back to the house where he can hear nothing but Emily’s humming and a low sucking noise, feeling like the most awkward human in existence as he clears his throat. “We, uh- There was an incident,” he says slowly. “Bella Swan-“

There’s a distinct snap of wood somewhere in the background and a low strange buzz before there’s nothing but abrupt silence.

_“Please,”_ Sam feels the hair at the back of his neck rising in warning, _“continue.”_

“She- uh, crashed, _subspace_-“ he blurts out, mentally face-palming at his word choice and grimacing. “She’s with Emily – my wife,” he adds a bit belatedly. “But she kinda crashed _hard_ and she needs someone to bring her out of it.”

_“We’ll be there in two hours,” _Carlisle answers after a moment. _“Can she stay with you until we’re back?” _

“Yeah,” Sam answers immediately. “Of course.”

_“Thank you,” _Carlisle says and Sam scratches at the back of his neck, feeling warm at the deep and genuine gratitude in his voice. _“For taking care of my daughter._”


	3. Aftermath

Bella is a strangely silent child and perhaps this is the start of the distance between her and her mother – a bond never forged.

_“She’s doing it for attention,” _Renée lies to one of the few teachers who stop to ask. _“She’s a real chatter box at home! And you’ve seen her work that pencil – she’s not dumb. Just an attention seeker.” _

At home Renée shakes her arm. Sometimes she shouts. Other days she cries. And Bella never speaks – an eerie child with large doe like eyes who flinches and scuttles out of the way and who refuses to meet the gazes of the strange men that come and go out of her life.

Her first words are: _There’s a hole in my pocket._

Her favourite shorts are proffered as proof, a childish expectation to have it fixed in the brown of her eyes.

She’s four.

Renée looks at her with tired eyes, alcohol in her breath as she laughs.

_“I think I liked you better when you didn’t speak at all,” _she says.

-

Bella slowly comes to awareness – a strange sluggishness in her limbs and brain as she pried heavy eyes open, staring blankly against the leather seat of the car as her mind grasped for some sort of stabilization, something to focus on, only to have it slide right out of her grasp.

So instead she focuses on her breathing.

At the movement of the world outside the window in the low cast from the tail lights of the car.

Slowly becomes aware of the low rumble of the engine and the windscreen wipers working over a slow drizzle of rain as the road dipped, concrete traded for the sound of gravel as wheels rolled the last bit up the driveway before coming to an smooth end, engine turned off with the twist of a key.

Bella finds the door opening, a hand touching against her cheek.

It’s cold, almost achingly so as she turns her head, mind moving as through sludge before familiarity settles in as Bella stares at Carlisle, her Dad, her _Daddy_ \- unable to make sense of the situation she finds herself in.

“Hey there, little one,” he says, his voice warm, a low soothing cadence that promised that everything would be okay in the world as long as she was with him.

A pacifier tumbles to the seat, forgotten, mouth opening and closing but unable to form the words.

It’s as if – as if they don’t want to be spoken, hidden deep in her throat as she ducks down, hiding her mouth against the fabric of the large shirt she’s wearing and watching him quietly beneath the drooping fabric of the hood on her head.

“It’s okay,” he tells her but there’s something in his eyes that doesn’t reflect his words, her fingers curling into the fabric of the too-long sleeves. “It’s okay,” he repeats. “You don’t have to speak at all, sweetheart.”

He reaches for her and Bella finds herself hoisted into his arms, tuning to bury her face into his neck as she wraps her arms clumsily around him, allowing herself to be carried up the wooden stairs where someone is already holding the door open, allowing her Dad to duck inside with her.

_“-why isn’t she-“_

_“-wrong with her-“_

_“-wolves-“_

Voice buzzes and bounces against her ears and Bella shifts her hands, pushing down over her ears as she stares into a pair of amber eyes that suddenly found themselves in her vision – his head tilting, chin-length blond hair tipping with the motion.

“She’s confused,” he says, eyes never leaving hers. “Overwhelmed.”

“She hasn’t spoken a word since I picked her up,” Dad rumbles, concern deep in his voice.

His brow creases slightly. “She’s exhausted but – I don’t know.” There’s a creeping of frustration in his tone and Bella wonders why he looks like he hurts when he throws her one last look before stepping aside and out of her vision and Bella buries her face back into Dad’s shoulder.

Closes her eyes and goes back to sleep.

-

The second time she comes to it’s with a jerk, eyes flashing open and heart pounding too hard in her chest, face twisting as a throbbing headache made her wince, pulling the slouching hood on her head down to block the low light from the dangling lamps.

Confusion pounds through her and thinking hurts which makes her hunch on herself as she reluctantly shuffles off the bed – blinking at her bare legs sticking out from beneath the ridiculously large hoodie she was wearing, reassuring herself that she was at least wearing underwear before stepping forward and pulling the door open.

Someone (likely Alice) had blessedly turned down off all light but he bare necessities – a low glow at her feet and a single lamp in the hallway greeting her as she inches her way down the stairs and onto plain ground, feeling both unsteady and nauseous as she turns to the kitchen.

She moves across the cool tiles, opening the corner shelf and patting for the painkillers Carlisle had left for her there alongside a bottle of Midol, popping two and washing them down with a little grimace.

When she turns around it’s to hands sliding beneath her arms and lifting her up, her legs settling around a familiar waist and arms wrapping around Esme’s neck, still quiet as she buries down into the soft fabric of her hoodie and allows herself to be carried into the living room on silent steps.

Esme sinks down, Bella’s knees dipping down on either side of her hips, arms wrapping around her body to draw her close as Bella turns her nose into her cold neck and breathes in, allowing the soothing sweetness to curl down and expand her lungs as her muscles slowly relaxes and she sinks into the comfort of her Mom’s arms.

-

She doesn’t know how long they remain like so – the only sound the beating of her own heart against a silent chest.

She feels strangely disconnected from her feelings, a cloudy sort of dissonance that makes her shoulders curl on themselves when Esme slowly releases her and shifts her back, a hand so gentle stroking against her cheek as she peers out at her from the shadow of the hoodie she’s still drowning in – unfamiliar and far too big to belong to anyone but Emmett and yet.

The scent isn’t her big brother’s but muskier and there’s a memory tickling at the edge of her mind.

“Hey there, baby girl,” Esme says, her voice but a whisper as Bella tilts her cheek against Esme's palm and looks at her with doe brown eyes. “Still a bit lost in that beautiful mind of yours, hm?”

Esme’s eyes are dark and the shadows beneath her eyes are dark purple – stark against the paleness of her skin, a streak of dirt by her ear.

Her hair is still in a braid from the hunt and Bella finds herself reaching for the tail end of it, fingers curling around the soft caramel lock as Esme’s face gentles and she gives a soft sigh as she draws Bella towards her – lips pressing soft against her cheek.

“It’s okay,” Esme whispers but there’s a tremor in her voice that wrestles for Bella’s attention, brow creasing as her grip tightens. “It’s okay baby girl, I’ve got you.”

“Mom?” Her voice comes out hoarse, distant and her lip wobbles, suddenly overwhelmed for reasons she doesn't understand. _“Mom-“_

“I've got you," Esme promises and there’s something terrible in a vampire’s inability to shed tears, she decides, her eyes burning as she cradles her baby girl’s face between her hands and presses their foreheads together, feeling wet tears spilling over to trail down and over her thumbs. “I’m here-“ she promises, voice trembling and a dark ugly sort of possessiveness crawling through her as she looks up – her eyes meeting Carlisle’s equally dark gaze. "You're safe_._"

-

“I don’t understand what happened,” Bella says as Esme’s tongue flattens against her cheek, dragging up to taste the trail of saltiness with a kiss against the corner of her eye before nuzzling close with a low comforting noise.

“You dropped,” Carlisle says as Bella shifts her gaze, giving him a helpless look, seeking reassurance and an explanation. “What you have with us still very new,” he rumbles, sliding a hand to settle firm and comforting against the back of her neck to a little shudder and a lidding of her eyes as she lowered her head just a bit, his thumb stroking against her skin. “You’ve found support when you’ve had none before and having it so suddenly out of your grasp – it piled up with the stress until your mind gave you little choice but to shut down.”

“But I felt fine-“ Bella protests with a shiver at the coldness of his skin. “It was nothing I haven’t experienced before but I’ve never – I’ve never done _that_ before.”

“Do you remember what you were thinking and feeling just before you dropped?” Esme asks gently, stroking a thumb up against the dipping of her brow.

“I- I remember meeting Sam,” she says slowly, stilling when Esme’s teeth flashed, a stutter in her heart as she stared at the other woman.

“Go on,” Esme rumbles, subsiding with a press of her husband’s hand against her shoulder.

Bella hesitates but then – “He wasn’t human,” she remembers, fingers curling into the fabric of the hoodie pooling in her lap. “And he wasn’t – I think he smelt you on me and he wasn’t – I wasn’t –“ Bella shuts her mouth, teeth sinking down against her lip only to wince and instead twist her hands deeper into the hoodie. “I wanted my Mommy,” she whispers and Esme sucks in a breath. “I wanted to call you but my phone – and there were so many people and I was _tired_ and it was just – overwhelming and I just wanted _my Mommy_-“

“Oh baby – of course you did,” Esme whispers, a tremble in her voice as she presses her lips to Bella’s cheek. “Of course you did – that’s, oh baby girl.”

Mommy kisses her and Bella parts her lips, relaxing into the comfort and security of the other as she opened her mouth, whimpering as coldness dragged up against her tongue, Carlisle’s grip on her neck tightening and she draws a shuddering breath as Esme pulls back, eyes intent and forehead pressed close against hers.

“I know it’s all new and overwhelming,” Esme whispers as Bella looks at her with vulnerable eyes. “But we’ll be here for you every step of the way.”

“But what if it happens again?” Bella asks, lost and embarrassed as she averts her eyes. “What if – what if someone else-“

“Wanting comfort is nothing to be embarrassed about,” Carlisle says firmly. “You’re still learning to relax around us, sweetheart, and you make us so proud – every day.”

Bella’s eyes burns and she swallows thickly.

“I don’t think – I don’t think I realised how much I need you until suddenly you weren’t there and I-“ Her voice wobbles and she draws back from Esme, wiping at her eyes with the rough fabric of the hoodie. “It was scary-“ she whispers. “I’ve never – I was always the one taking care of Renée, I’ve never had to rely on anyone before and it- and it was _scary-_“

“You’ve spent too much time taking care of others and without someone to rely on,” Carlisle says, shifting and sliding his hands beneath her armpits, drawing her up and into his lap where she looks at him with wet lashes, lip still bruised where she’d bitten down too hard. “Learning to trust can be scary but you’re doing so well and we love you so very much."

“Will you help me?” she asks as he draws her close, nuzzling against her neck. “I don’t want that to happen again – not when I’m not with you and Mommy.” Red deepens on her cheeks at the confession.

“Of course,” he tells her, breath cool against her neck. “You’re ours,” he rumbles, teeth dragging against the sensitive skin of her throat as she tips her head back, baring it with a whimper as he grasped at her neck, thumb pressing up beneath her chin to keep her still. “All ours,” he growls, leaning forward and sucking down hard enough to bruise as she grasps at his arm.

They remove the hoodie and Bella quivers as Esme settles behind her, her palms flattening and sliding up beneath her shirt to grasp at her bare breasts, nipples pebbling against Esme’s cold skin as she pressed down with her nose, inhaling sharply in the human’s neck as she palmed them, pinching and tugging as goosebumps crawled down Bella’s arms.

“She smells like wolf,” Esme rumbles with discontent and Bella gasps, whimpering as her palm dipped down into her pants and curled to sink into her with a growl as Bella’s walls automatically clenched down around her, trying to drag her deeper, and her legs spread with a whine as Esme pumped two fingers roughly in and out of her.

“Not for long,” Carlisle promises with dark possessive drag of his teeth over her neck before biting down – mindful not to break skin while making his claim clear, venom thick in his mouth as Bella sucked in a sharp breath, clenching down on Esme’s fingers with more wetness to ease her into her.

Esme takes her roughly and Bella groans as Carlisle laps against the indention in her neck, a hand grasping and stilling her hip as Esme pressed up harder, deeper, two fingers becoming three with a rough twist of her fingers as Bella sucked in a harsh breath, tension coiling tense in her gut and–

But she’s not allowed to come, walls cramping down as Esme yanked her fingers out and she is left quivering, just on the edge of an orgasm, mind struggling to catch up with the sudden turn of events as arms slid around her, lifting her up and guiding her down on her knees in front of the couch as Mommy and Daddy trades places.

Esme spreads her legs with dark hungry eyes and Carlisle snaps her underwear from behind her and discards them aside, shirt roughly yanked over her head to leave her completely bare and vulnerable with a shiver.

“Look at you,” Esme coos as her hand coils around her hair, grasping it firmly as she guided Bella’s mouth to the apex of her thighs. “Our beautiful, baby girl.”

Bella breathes in the scent of her, whimpering as Esme turns her cheek against her folds to grind her wetness against her, smearing it across her reddening cheeks with a possessive rumble as Bella remained loose limbed, pupils expanding to eat the brown of her eyes as she inhaled more and more of her Mommy’s essence, lips parting and tongue darting out when she was finally pushed up where she wanted to be – tongue pressing flat and warm between the coolness of Esme’s folds and dipping to lap against her entrance with a hungry groan.

Behind her Carlisle sinks to his knees, hands sliding up her sides, tickling against her ribs – admiring the pale stretch of her skin as he dipped down to knead her cheeks, feeling the soft warm swell with another sort of want twisting through him, a desire to see her bent over his lap with her rump bruising beneath the force of his hand, secure in the knowledge that he’d be the only one to ever bring such a beautiful spread of colour on her skin.

The mental picture makes him groan, grasping and grinding himself up against her, letting her feel the hardness of his cock where it strains against the front of his pants and allowing himself to luxuriate in the scent of her want smearing against him as he mouths against her bare neck, teeth dragging over her skin, her stuttered whine music to his ears as she parts her legs further.

The scent of wolf and another’s mate on her skin makes him growl, his venom thickening in his mouth, the urge to claim overwhelming as he yanks his pants down, freeing himself and clamping down on her hip to keep her still as he pressed the head of his cock up against her folds and dragged her down as he pushed roughly up.

He buries himself deep into her warmth as she jerks in shock, whimpering when he kept her still, giving her no choice but to get used to him as her walls clenched and rippled from the sudden breach, a whine of discomfort muffled against his mate’s folds as a shiver ran through her body, his superior sight picking up the rippling tension of her muscles, the goosebumps in response to his cold and the sweat beading along her spine as she gasps for breath.

_“Daddy-“ _she whines and Carlisle shivers at the want in her voice, growling as he dragged out and pushes forward, burying deep, watching the way his cock disappeared into her body, warm wetness enveloping him, clenching to keep him inside her as he hisses, snapping forward, her flesh echoing with a hard smack as his hips collided with her rump.

He takes her hard and rough, fucking her as she grasps at his wife’s thighs, struggling to hold on as he spreads her open again and again on his cock, his eyes drinking the sight she made as she rocked with the force of his thrusts, her pussy spread wide on his cock, pink and beautiful where it folded around him, tight, wet and so deliciously _warm._

Her heartbeat pounds loud and Carlisle growls, fingers digging bruises into her hips as he thrust forward, taking her too hard but unable to care as his cock disappears into her depth where he slams up against her cervix, groaning as he bent over her, distantly aware of her shocked gasp as he buried deep, pressing the head flat up against the entrance to her womb and holding himself there as his cum splattered into her – white sticky and cold inside her warm depth.

“Ours,” he rumbles as he drags himself out, dipping his fingers into her and twisting, mixing their essence together before he scoops it out, smearing it in a broad stroke over the pale skin of her back as he growled low in his throat and followed it with his tongue.

The couch dips when he presses down with his knee, mouth slanting over his wife and mate’s to a snarl as she deepened it, dragging him towards her, his hand pressing down on their little one’s neck to keep her in place as Esme rolled her hips up, grinding herself up against Bella’s face as she tasted them in his mouth with a noise that tapered into a rumbling purr, rocking and rubbing until she came with a soft purr.

A warm tongue wiggles up a tightening channel to scoop her slick want greedily into her mouth, face angling to get deeper until Carlisle tightens his grip and drags her up, a gasp for breath barely caught before he was claiming her into a rough kiss, her mouth parting without hesitation to let him inside, her heart pounding loud to both vampires when he let her go, a shuddering gasp for breath becoming a soft whine as she stares at them – flushed and smeared, nude and covered in both their essence.

“Beautiful,” Esme whispers, dragging her up further to nuzzle against her neck, inhaling the scent of her with a nip against her jaw. “But you can take more, can’t you little one?” she rumbles and Bella’s pupils dilate as she leans forward, pressing up with a soft noise of agreement, relaxing slowly against her Mommy as Daddy strokes fingers down her arms, leather wrapping around her wrists and securing them behind her back with a _click._

_“Trust us,” _Mommy whispers with a curl of her tongue against the shell of her ear and Bella lifts her gaze, holding the golden gaze of the other as her lips parts around the ball of a gag, jaw straining wide with a stutter of her heart as the strap pulled tight against the back of her head and a growl against her neck as Daddy bent low, sucking hard on her skin as she shivered.

Mommy’s fingers dips down between the spread of her legs, stroking up against her clit with a little jerk of her hips and a muffled noise against the gag in her mouth, shivering as Esme strokes bangs away from her face, eyes lidding as she pushed forward only to be denied with a tug, guided back and down on her knees on the floor.

For a second anxiety curls up inside of her – aware of how vulnerable she is between these two otherworldly creatures, bound and muffled.

And then she groans when she’s pushed back, her shoulders straining uncomfortably as a hand stroked over the bow of her body with a nip of teeth against a hard nipple before it continued up, stroking over her throat with consideration as she quivers, gasping through her nose as it tightened, breath rasping, Daddy holding her firm as Mommy pressed a kiss against her belly with a little purr.

Fingers strokes down and over her entrance and then further, coiling and spreading the tight ring of muscles between her cheeks with a strained arch of her back and a groan that vibrated against Carlisle’s tightening fingers, perspiration spreading a sheen on her chest as one finger became two and then three, spreading her far to quickly as she gasps for breath against the gag, panic soothed down with a press of lips against the inside of her thigh.

“Trust us,” Daddy reminds her, nosing against her cheek as Esme twists rough and hard into her, vampiric strength giving her muscles no choice but to loosen as she spread her fingers out, giving little thought to the awkward bend of Bella’s legs and back as she fucked into her, drawing out only to push back harder and firmer as Bella groans, fingers tightening in warning when she tried to shift, world dilating to nothing but the feel of the fingers inside of her and around her throat.

“Good girl,” Daddy growls and Bella whimpers, tipping her head into his palm as he strokes through her sweaty locks and down to cup her face with his free hsnd.

The build is slow and aching, her pussy clenching down on nothing as Mommy takes her until she’s squirming and flushed, overwhelmed and craving as she gasps against the gag, saliva wet on the side of it and tears of frustration prickling at the corner of her eyes.

She clenches down with a raw rough drag against cold fingers, the muscles in her stomach quivering as Mommy presses lips down and runs her tongue up over the dip of her navel to taste the sting of salt from her sweat.

She climbs and climbs and climbs, edging on an climax only to sob, a desperate noise muffled against the gag in her mouth when Mommy stills and pulls her fingers out of her to a whine of near panic as she pleaded – eyes wide and begging only to be ignored as Mommy and Daddy kisses long and languish above her.

The grip on her throat slides to settle on her back and she finds herself pushed forward until her cheek is mushed against the carpet with a grimace as she breathed the prickling scent of the fabric when she knew her Mommy’s sweet scent was so close, so close.

She jerks when Daddy spreads her cheeks and pushes inside – forcing the tight ring of muscles impossibly wider, the drag rough as he sunk deep, deep into her warmth with a growl, leaving her no choice but to take it, saliva dripping wet down her chin as he set a hard firm pace that rocked her cheek against the fabric of the carpet with every trust, his cock cold and hard inside her.

A hand brushes hair away from her face and Bella blinks wetly up at her Mommy to a low soothing purr as she rubbed gently against the side of her face.

“So good,” Esme praises and Bella soaks in the wonder of it – in knowing she was doing good for Mommy and Daddy as he took her with increasing hardness, bruises on her hips where he held her firm and secure.

She tilts her head as best as she can into Mommy’s palm and closes her eyes, breathing in the sweet scent concentrated at her wrist.

The longer time drags the more it aches, Mommy's soft purr anchoring her as Daddy's hand grasps roughly at her hair and pushes her down harder, hips snapping in a punishing pace against her until he groans and Bella feels him sink deep, his hips pushed flat against her rump as his seed spilled into her.

He presses up firm, milking himself into her and making sure she got every last drop of his cum before he bent down and placed a kiss against the arch of her spine and slowly dragged his cock out of her.

The gag is loosened, her jaw parting as it pulled out of her mouth – wet with saliva.

“Tell us what you want, baby girl,” Mommy whispers and Bella looks at them – lidded and aching, craving that sweet release and yet-

Daddy is beautiful – his body tall and muscular, cock already half-hard between the spread of his legs because vampire stamina was nothing to scoff at and he’d take her over and over if she asked.

Mommy is just as beautiful, Bella's gaze drawn to the swell of her chest, the softness of her jaw and the hunger in the dark of her eyes, fingers glistening.

Words are always harder the deeper she dips but she licks her lips. “Want – want to see Mommy and Daddy,” she says, mouth working awkwardly around the words, red spiralling down her cheek when they stilled.

“Is that what you want, baby girl?” Daddy whispers as he strokes a hand down her flank. “To see Mommy and Daddy make love?”

Bella sucks a sharp breath. “Yes,” she whispers.

Her pussy aches as she’s pulled up and then they’re in the bed and she’s sinking back against the headboard, arms still bound and gag sinking back into her mouth, secured within the blink of her eyes and a kiss against her nose.

And then they take each other as she watches, saliva dripping down her chin and her pussy so aching at the end of it that she comes with a single touch and a desperately muffled sob against her Mommy’s chest as Daddy sinks into her and fucks her right through it.


	4. A Curious Offer

Bella stares down at the sludgy cereal, stirring it a bit absently with the tip of her spoon as she kept an idle ear on the turning of Charlie’s newspaper, the cup of coffee raised to his lips to take a long drink of it before being put with a quiet _clack_ against the wood of the kitchen table.

Jake had called that morning – asked if everything was fine and she’d reassured him that Carlisle had taken good care of her and that she felt well enough to head to school.

_“I’m sorry you missed the bonfire,” _he’d said, voice a tad muffled through the phone, the clang of something or another in the background. _“Emily said to let you know you’re welcome back anytime you want. Apparently you made quite the impression on her and Sam – he didn’t even scowl when she mentioned your name!” _

Bella’s memories of the night is still fussy – Carlisle had said it was natural. That she’d dropped too quickly and unexpectedly.

And she understood that, had read the files he’d emailed her and done a bit of research of her own beyond that.

But it didn’t make the twisty feeling in her gut go away – didn’t make her feel less restless and terrified of what they’d thought for all that Jake had, a bit questioningly at her worry, pressed that Emily hadn’t seemed anything but happy when they returned to the bonfire.

Bella blows out a rough breath and drops the spoon into the bowl with a _clink._

“Do you have Sam’s number?” she asks Charlie who pauses mid-way through turning a page and instead lowers it down to peer at her.

“Sam?”

“Uley,” she clarifies. “He helped me when I got that stomach bug at the party and I kinda wanted to say thank you to him.”

Charlie hums, patting down his pocket for his phone and pulling it out – Bella drumming her fingers a bit restlessly against her thigh as she looked up and out the window, seeing the drizzle of rain and the dark thick clouds that had once again robbed Forks of its sun.

“Here,” he says, sliding it over, and she pulls out her own phone – adding a new contact to a growing list that had ceased to be just her and her parents and Phil.

“I’ll probably stop by his house after school,” she tells him as she slides it back. “I have his shirt in his backpack – might as well return it while I’m at it.”

“He’s a good man, Sam,” Charlie says with some approval. “Don’t listen to the rumours about him.”

“I know,” she assures him and she admits to the curl of curiosity in her belly as she presses down the keys of her phone and opened up a new message to the man who claimed to be part wolf.

-

“Baby bear!” Emmett’s hug sweeps her right of her feet with a squeak of surprise, her hands locking around his arms with a blossoming warmth in her chest as he pulled her into a brief squeeze before he allowed her down, completely ignoring the many eyes that were staring at them in blatant surprise.

Two seconds later Alice latches onto her back and would have tripped her flat if not for Emmett’s steady hand on her shoulder, and she curls an arm automatically around the leg at her waist to at least give an illusion of holding the other girl up.

“A whole week!” Alice grumbles with discontent into her ear. “And then Carlisle and Esme got to keep you all for themselves.” Bella flushes. “We’ll just have to make up for it,” Alice assures her in a low rumbling promise that only makes the colour in her cheek darken.

“Alice-“ she hisses in embarrassment, ducking her head even as Emmett took a step to make sure they were mostly out of sight.

“It just wasn’t the same without you,” Alice says, louder, eyes twinkling. “I think I’ll just have to steal you along next time.”

“Please do that,” Bella says beneath her breath and Alice’s arm tightens briefly around her before she swung off, all elegant steps as she made a little twirl, successfully drawing Bella’s gaze downwards.

“Like my outfit?” Alice asks smugly.

“It suits you,” Bella says with a little twitch of her lips at the sight of the leather pants and white poet shirt tucked into it, softened by the delicate flowers at the wide collar. “Very vampiry,” she says as Alice loops her arm through hers in a way that’s becoming familiar.

“Fake teeth and a cape and she’s got Halloween down to a pat,” Emmett says with amusement as he steals Bella’s backpack and slings it over his own shoulder.

“You’re just jealous you can’t pull this off,” Alice tells him with a smirk.

“Oh I can, pixie dust,” he assures her. “But I think Forks High would collapse if they were to experience us both in skin-tight leather pants.”

-

“Bella.” She pauses, foot half-way into her truck and turning around to look at the bronze haired Cullen who meets her gaze steadily, his eyes dark and with a careful amount of space between them but a polite sort of expression. “I heard you’re heading down to the reservation.”

“Yeah,” she says, torn between surprise and confusion as she furrowed her brow. “Emily Young is waiting for me.”

There’s a flicker of surprise in his gaze, a little tilting of his head. “It’s strange,” he says. “How easily it is to read everyone but you.”

“No offense,” she says, drawing her foot out and turning to rest with her back against the truck. “But I’m pretty relieved you can’t get a read on me.”

“No offense taken,” he assures her and she finds that she likes the crookedness of his smile. “Jasper's gift – you’ve been feeling a bit anxious and I just want you to know that Sam and Emily? They’re good people. We might not agree with a lot of things, being what we are, but I want you to know that.”

And, coming from a mind reader, Bella supposes there’s little to doubt about it.

“Thank you,” she tells him, still not quite sure what to make of this particular vampire but wanting… something.

He shrugs. “Don’t be a stranger,” he says, turning and trotting off to the rest of his family.

Bella watches him for a moment longer, aware of the whispers around them, and then she turns, hoisting herself up into her truck and closing the door firmly behind her.

-

Bella stills in surprise when warm human arms tightens firmly around her.

“I’m glad to see you’re alright,” Emily says as she pulls back, hands on Bella’s shoulders. “He’ll never admit to it but Sam was quite worried as well. I think he even made a tiny smile when he got your text,” she says in a low tone and Bella’s neck heats.

“Thank you,” she says awkwardly, not quite sure how to react, and Emily’s eyes softens.

“Think nothing of it,” she says, tugging Bella along with her into the house where she inhaled, eyes widening at the delicious scents that crept to fill her nose with every breath, her head turning, watching steaming plates of food already crowding on the kitchen table.

“He eats a lot, as a wolf,” Emily informs her as she pulls a chair out and guides Bella into it with a squeeze of her shoulder. “At least three times as much as a normal man so it never hurts to be prepared when he gets back from patrol.”

Emily pauses, as if a bit surprised. “It’s good,” she tells Bella with a little quirk of her lips that pull at the scars. “Being able to talk with someone else about this.”

“It must have been startling,” Bella says as Emily drops into the chair opposite her. “It seems so surreal sometimes.”

“It does,” Emily agrees with a little laugh as she served them a plate of cherry pie each after a quirked brow. “Sam is still the only wolf but he says he’s been seeing signs in some of the older teens so it’s likely it won’t be like that for long.”

“You’re pretty open about it,” Bella says as she spoons a liberal amount of pie and ice cream and shoves it into her mouth, eyes widening at the delicious taste, tongue flattening to make sure none of it escaped her as she pulled the spoon out.

“You’re a bit like me, aren’t you?” Emily comments with a fond curl of her lip. “Wolf girl and vamp girl. Who do we have if not each other?”

“’suppose,” Bella agrees, swallowing and craning about as the door opened and Sam stepped inside – easily passing six feet, his hair short and his face steady, a sort of reliable aura that was hard not to be drawn to.

_A natural leader,_ Bella finds herself thinking.

He’s bare, only a pair of jeans shorts clinging to his hips, but Emily is already pulling at the shirt that had been hanging at the back of her chair and holding it out as he stepped forward and bent down to kiss her as his hand grasped for it.

“Thank you,” he rumbles, pulling it on with a little breath of relief, hand pulling through his hair before he turned intent eyes on Bella who stilled in place.

“So, you came,” he comments idly, dropping down into the chair between the two of them.

“Of course I did,” Bella says with a confused furrow of her brow. “Did you think they wouldn’t allow it?” she asks curiously.

“I respect Carlisle,” Sam tells her and she watches the glimmer in his wolfish eyes as he considers her. “But I don’t know enough to make a judgement about the rest of them and I know well-enough the blonde woman, for one, isn’t overly fond of us.”

“I don’t think Rosalie is overly fond of anyone but her husband,” Bella admits and he grunts in acknowledgement, fork already burying into the large meat pie Emily settled in front of him. “I‘m – I wanted to say thank you, for what you both did for me,” she finds, grip turning white-knuckled around the spoon. “If it weren’t for you-“

“I’m just happy we were able to be there when you needed us,” Emily says firmly as Sam watches her with intent eyes. “Mr Cullen explained that you’re… new to this,” she says a bit delicately. “Think nothing about it.”

Bella stares at this beautiful woman, a brush of a memory, a calling of–

_"Come to Aunt Emily."_

A shiver runs down her spine and she swallows, averting her eyes.

“Sam explained that the Cullen’s, as per agreement from a few generations back, aren’t allowed in Forks during sunny days at risk of exposing what they are,” Emily comments as she finishes the last bit of pie and wipes at her mouth with a napkin before tucking it away beneath the plate. “Seems a bit of a silly rule, to be honest, but change doesn’t come easy for the older generation.”

“It’s okay,” Bella says weakly. “I know this was – part of it,” she admits, fiddling absently with her sleeve. “For as long as I’m human I’ll just have to make do.”

Emily and Sam exchange a look, she quirking an eyebrow and he giving a shrug, busying himself with the pie as Emily folded her fingers together and peered across the table.

“We have a mutual friend who sometimes slip into subspace,” Emily says carefully. “It’s not – something one just gets used to, not when it’s still so new and you’re learning to step in and out of it and testing your own limits and understanding of it. Or so I’m told.” Her lips curl into a fond smile before her gaze sharpens, meeting brown. “I want to extend an offer to you,” Emily tells her. “And I don’t want you to answer now but to go home and think about it and then talk it over with Mr and Mrs Cullen. Can you do that for me?”

Bella stares at her, fingers touching a bit absently to her bruised lip to make sure she didn’t bite down on it.

“I can do that,” she says finally.

“Good girl,” Emily tells her and while it’s nowhere near the warmth that Esme’s praise sent blossoming through her there was something there – a little curl in her gut. “Next time the Cullen’s leave Forks during a sunny week I want you to consider coming over a day or two and spend it here with the two of us.”

Bella swears her heart stops, head jerking up, looking to Emily and then to Sam, for a second fully convinced that they were making fun of her but-

Sam meets her gaze calmly and with an authority that spoke with assurance and Emily’s gaze is nothing but firm and reassuring.

“You can come as you are now,” Emily continues calmly, as if she hadn’t just extended an offer that Bella would never in her life been able to even consider the possibility of. “Or you can come to spend some time with you Uncle Sam and Aunt Emily,” she says simply, as of it was that _easy._

Her first instinct is to say no_._

It had been hard enough to find trust in Esme and Carlisle and she was still discovering new things about their relationship and herself and how she fit in with them as a lover and daughter at the same time.

Had she not told Esme and Carlisle that she didn’t want to be little with anyone but them?

The word _r_ests on her tongue, swallowed only because she’d already made a promise and she ducks her head and averts her gaze.

"I will think about it," she says.

-

She doesn’t remember to return the hoodie and Sam never asks for it and a petty part of Bella decides that it’s _hers,_ wrapping herself up in it and breathing in the musky scent of the forest that clings to it as she stares at the window and the rain smattering against it, hood pulled low over her eyes.

-

“You’re worried about something.” Bella pauses the scrubbing of her plate, cold water running steadily over her hand as she turned her head to look at her more _reserved_ brother.

Jasper is watching her from the door opening, hands in the pockets of his jeans, his checkered button-up shirt and boots rather bringing her mind to an old-timey cowboy – all he needed was a proper hat to go with it.

“Is that unusual?” she asks, turning her attention back to the dishes and washing the last of the suds off before trading it over to the drying rack and grabbing for the glass in its stead.

“No,” Jasper says simply, his sharp gaze burning at the back of her neck as she finished the last up, gave her hands a wash and wiped them clean before turning towards him. “You are torn about it.”

If there’s an inquiry there Bella doesn’t hear it, regarding him a bit unsurely from her place by the sink.

Jasper is still largely a stranger to her – their interactions have been few and it didn’t take long for him to quietly leave the room whenever she stepped into one and she felt torn in different ways about it.

Afraid she was driving him away from his own family, worried she’d done something to offend him-

Knowing that it was because of the scent of her blood, thought Alice remained tight-lipped on the subject when she’d made an attempt to broach it with her.

“I guess,” she says finally and he tilts his head just a bit, eyes honey blond and intent where they regarded her.

“You should speak to them,” he says finally, pushing away from the doorway with a smooth roll of his shoulders. “That’s what parents are there for after all,” he says before disappearing, leaving her staring blankly into the hallway leading towards the living room.

_Was that Jasper trying to help? _Bella thinks a bit bemused, reaching and snagging for a crisp red apple before she trotted up the stairs, wiping at the apple juice dripping down her chin with the sleeve of her shirt and quietly pushing the door open, eyes on the perfectly made covers as she closed it.

Finds her back sliding down along the door to settle against it as she breathes out with a little sigh.

-

An arm slides behind her back, the other beneath her knee, lifting her gently into familiar arms, lips pressing against her forehead as she opened her eyes – yawning and twisting closer to Esme’s cold body with a little shiver.

“’s the time?” she asks, rubbing at her eyes.

“It’s only nine p.m., Jasper said you’ve been asleep for forty minutes at most.”

It was strange to think that Jasper would actually take note of it and some of her confusion must have shown on her face because Esme rumbles comfortingly, nuzzling against her neck to a little noise of appreciation as Bella tipped her head back, heart stuttering as Esme dragged her teeth gently against her skin.

“Is Dad coming too?” Bella asks, eyes lidding as she tilted her head, cheeks brushing together.

“I don’t know,” Esme says, drawing back and stroking gently against the side of her face. “Rosalie still needs some time.”

“Okay,” Bella says with another jaw-cracking yawn and Esme’s eyes twinkles fondly when she pries her watering eyes open, scrubbing tiredly at them with a sheepish little smile. “Sorry,” she says. “Wanted to spend some time with you but I’m all tired.”

“It’s Wednesday,” Esme says simply. “Middle of the week. You humans are always notoriously tired or out partying at this time. It’s a curious duality of your kind.”

Bella’s nose wrinkles. “I’d rather be here and with you,” she says firmly.

“Oh?” Esme says, drawing her up with a little spin before tipping back into the bed to a surprised squeak as Bella landed in a sprawl over her belly. “You know just what to say to make your Mom happy, huh?” She reaches up, giving Bella’s dark hair a fond little tug and-

Bella looks at her, caramel hair spread out against the covers, warmth in the golden of her eyes, a smile curving her lips with a little dimple in her left cheek and her breath catches – eyes darkening below her with a little considering tilt.

“Or is it _Mommy_ you’re making happy, hm?” Esme asks with a little purr that makes heat blossom low in her belly-

Only to be interrupted by another yawn and Esme’s laugh is warm as arms reaches up and circles around her shoulders to pull her down for another nuzzle. “Oh my beautiful baby girl,” she sighs with a gust of cold air against Bella’s ear. “Tell Mommy what you want,” she murmurs.

Bella shivers, dipping down_down_, whining to a responding purr.

“Do you want to stay here with Mommy?” she asks and Bella nods against her neck, feeling fingers curl over the hem at her neck, trailing up and over her collarbone with some consideration. “Cold?” she asks when Bella shivers again and she shakes her head immediately to a little laugh. “It’s okay,” Mommy reassures her. “We can dive under the cover you and I, would you like that?”

_“Y-es,”_ Bella manages clumsily and lips presses to her cheek.

“Good girl,” Esme murmurs as she hoists Bella up against her, an arm sealed tight behind her back as they rose together, cover tugged aside before the vampire leant forward and gently settled the human against the softness of the mattress without letting go. “Do you want to hear a story, baby girl?” she asks gently, nosing up beneath her chin.

A _mm_ of agreement, eyes staring up at her in adoration and Esme can’t resist another kiss on her little one’s nose before pulling back.

Her hand strokes over the cover of the book at the bedside table with a little drum of her fingers before she knelt down and pulled the bottom drawer open and slipped the book there out, tucking it beneath her arm as she stole along the blue elephant from where it was sitting at the vanity opposite the bed.

She puts it on the bed, aware of the way her little one watches her as she shimmies out of her clothes and exchanges them for a soft silk blouse and matching shorts, eyes lingering on her breasts as she pulled her bra off.

Crawls up the bed, pulling book and elephant along as she slipped beneath the covers to a body that immediately curled towards her, a head settling against her shoulder, arm wrapping around the blue elephant to pull it close while a leg twined around her own, making sure they were close and snug, eyes tired but filled with anticipation for the reading.

“Comfy?” she asks softly, brown eyes flicking up to her own with a little nod, gaze turning curiously as she reaches for the book and lets her little one take a peek at the pink striped cover with a brown haired girl seated on a pile of books.

Matilda is a book meant for children around six and older and while Esme is confident Bella’s little state put her around two or three it was hard to tell sometimes with the way she struggled with words.

It was something they had promised each other to bring up with her when she got more self-assured about her identity as such a small child but for now Esme was happy to take it slow and to allow their little one to take things at her own pace with just a little push.

Because Mommy knows best, after all.

Esme reaches for the pacifier connected to the neck of the blue elephant and brown eyes watches her carefully even as a mouth parts obligingly, allowing it inside with a gently brush of Esme’s thumb over the bruise that had turned into a mottled shade of yellow and purple.

“Good girl,” she whispers, drawing her baby girl just a little bit tighter, body shifting with her movement, burrowing closer as Esme opened it up and flipped to the correct page, clearing her throat. “_Chapter 1_,” she reads. “_The Reader of Books_…”

-

“Hey,” Carlisle whispers, bending down and pressing his lips to her cheek.

“Hey,” Esme echoes, hand stroking so gently so gently over the brown hair of their little one as she slept half on top of her, chest rising and falling, pacifier unconsciously worked even deep in sleep.

Esme had the covers pulled high up on her baby girl’s shoulders to make sure she didn’t get cold and there was something painfully adorable at the sight of the young face peeking out. “How did it go?”

Carlisle shakes his head and Esme tightens her grip on her little one, sighing softly.

“I’ve never seen her get angry at Emmett before – not like this,” Esme says as he changes into a pair of sleeping pants and lifts the covers just enough to slip beneath them.

“I have,” he tells her as he leans forward and places a kiss on a little wrinkling nose, a little noise of discontent making his mouth soften as their baby girl burrowed closer to Esme’s chest, inhaling the scent there with a little sigh. “Mommy’s little girl,” he says fondly.

“During the years following her change,” he clarifies when he sees Esme’s inquiring look. “It was… a harrowing time,” he admits. “I was hoping that she and Edward would mellow each other out but instead they ended up doing the exact opposite and for someone who can read minds Edward can be a bit… insensitive in some matters,” he phrases delicately.

“But Emmett?” Esme presses.

“No,” he admits heavily. “I phoned Tanya – she’ll keep an eye on her.”

“Do you think it has something to do with…?”

“Emmett says it’s not,” Carlisle says with a little crease of his brow. “I’m inclined to trust him in this matter. He knows her the best, after all.”

“Old hurts then?” Esme says, heart aching at the thought of her blonde daughter.

“I believe so,” he agrees with a low murmur and Esme sighs, drawing their little one close with a kiss to the crown of her head. “We’ll figure it out. We always do,” he tells her gently.


	5. Hiccups

Bella knows, objectively, that avoiding the subject isn’t doing her any good.

It knots inside of her with every kiss to her forehead, every squeeze against her neck or shoulder and it gets to the point that she finds herself curled up in her bed in Charlie’s house so wrecked that the clock counts 5 a.m. without her getting any sleep.

_Greedy_, her mind hisses as tears stings her eyes and she draws the covers close around her, trying desperately to ignore the phone blinking light with new messages and missed phone calls.

_You always were an unappreciative daughter._

-

Bella calls Renée.

Charlie had left without much fuss that morning, frowning a bit and awkwardly offering a pat to her shoulder but she must have looked awful because he doesn’t offer any protests when she tells him she’s feeling unwell and she hears him calling her in sick to school with her ear pressed to the door.

The phone is the new one Alice had bought for her – ignoring any argument about money and leaving Bella feeling horribly guilty and so warm at the same time, fingers stroking over the pixie drawn in a green marker on the back of it.

_“Renée Dwyer speaking.”_

Bella swallows. “Hi,” she says but the word Mom won’t form along with it and it twists up inside her chest instead. “I, uh, got a new phone-“

_“Oh, Bella!”_ Renée interrupts, sounding rather distracted and Bella hears her move, making an excuse to Phil if the muffled voice in the background is any telling_. “You haven’t called in ages! You wouldn’t believe what’s been going on here-“_

It’s familiar.

Renée had never been interested in hearing about Bella’s days and happenings and for all that it leaves her feeling wretched it also makes her happy because Renée likes talking, likes sharing, likes being the one being heard and Bella had, at least, always been able to provide this.

_“- can you believe it?”_ Renée laughs, warm and happy and everything she hadn’t been with Bella.

“That sounds good,” Bella squeezes in between Renée’s first breath and the other. “I’m, uh, I’m glad you’re happy-“

_“I am,”_ Renée agrees with a sigh, so clearly in love. _“It’s good that you called,”_ she says and for a second Bella forgets to breathe, that devastating stupid hope bubbling up inside of her – unable to help it even after all these years.

“It is?” she asks, pressing the phone closer to her ear.

_“Yes!”_ Renée agrees and Bella squeezes her eyes shut, fingers curling tight around the phone. _“Phil and I have some news you see and-“_

Bella doesn’t hear the rest of the conversation.

She quite forgets to be at all.

-

Dinner with Charlie is strange – awkward and tense for reasons quite of her own making but Bella can’t get herself to care, staring at the untouched pizza on her plate and feeling so nauseous that her fingers dig white-knuckled like claws into her belly.

“Maybe you should stay home tomorrow as well,” Charlie says, dragging a plastic film over it at the end of the meal and storing it into the fridge with a little furrow in his brow. “Do you want me to call Carlisle?” he offers after a strained moment where Bella’s hands shakes as she raises a glass of water to her lips and takes two swallows before putting it down and shoving it away from her.

“No-“ she blurts out, head yanking up with a vague sense of panic. “No I’m – I just need rest,” she forces out.

Charlie stares at her and Bella desperately doesn’t look at him, her heart pounding so loud in her chest that she’s surprised he can’t hear it.

“Is-“ But he doesn’t finish it, clearing his throat. “Okay,” he says. “Do you – want me to get you anything?” It’s an awkward offer, as if he doesn’t quite know what do with her and Bella feels a terrible sense of kinship with him in that brief moment because she doesn’t quite know what to do with herself either.

“No,” she says, swallowing. “No I just– rest.”

He gives her a hesitant look but nods and shuffles out of the kitchen.

Bella stares at the water glass for a long time, barely touched.

Outside the rain keeps smattering against the glass.

-

As the Friday rolls around Charlie gets called out to Port Angeles and she knows by the look in his eyes that she’s not going to like the words coming out of his mouth.

“I don’t know what’s been going on with you lately,” he tells her. “But Carlisle and Esme obviously cares for you I’m not comfortable leaving you home alone like this.”

_This_ meaning a state of such tiredness that she’d spent the last three days in bed despite no sleep being forthcoming, unable to stomach anything, and so wrapped up in herself that she hadn’t showered since Tuesday.

The mere thought of accidentally catching sight of herself in the mirror had sent her into a fit of panic and she’d spent several minutes hyperventilating outside the bathroom door when Charlie was off at work and been forced to crawl back to her room where she’d stayed since.

“It’s either the Cullen’s or Billy,” he tells her, frowning heavily.

“Okay,” she whispers, hating herself as she pulls the covers tighter around her.

She’s in Sam’s hoodie and she hates that she’s drawing some messed up kind of comfort from it too as he clears his throat and with a lingering look closes the door behind him and heads down to make the call.

-

Bella jerks when there’s a knock on her door, unsure how much time had passed since Charlie left and swallowing as she sought for the words to let them in but unable to find them.

The one outside solves it for her – opening the door and peering into the darkness as Bella hunches on herself, eyes burning as Carlisle’s golden gaze found hers and she finds that she can’t look at him, eyes going down to the white-knuckled grip on the covers.

It’s the second time he’s come from her, she realizes, guilt twisting her heart.

“Hey there, sweetheart” he says, his voice a low soothing murmur that washes over her starved senses as the bed dips beside her, a hand settling cool against her forehead just a second later, seeking a fever that wasn’t there and her grip on the covers tightened until her bones ached. “I hear you haven’t been feeling well.”

_I don’t deserve you,_ Bella thinks as he strokes his hand up and over her oily hair, a familiar gentle thing.

“I don’t know what’s going on in that beautiful head of yours,” Carlisle says. “But we love you and we won’t stop loving you and we’ll wait for you however long you need.”

She hates him.

Hates how kind he is.

Forgiving when she didn’t deserve any of it.

“I’m sorry,” Bella whispers, voice hoarse.

“You have nothing at all to be sorry for,” he tells her, hand sliding down to cradle her cheek gently and tilting it up towards him and where her eyes quite unwillingly finds a golden pair watching her with an aching sort of warmth. “None at all,” he repeats, thumb stroking gently against her skin, catching the first tear that slip from her eyes.

“’m _sorry_,” she repeats with a little hiccup and she can’t stop the stupid tears from overflowing and trailing down her cheeks, a hand loosening against the cover to swipe clumsily at them, as if it’d somehow prevent more from coming, hiccupping as his hand left only to find herself drawn out from the covers that had been her refuge for the last days and into his arms.

Her legs spreads automatically, welcoming him into the slot between them as her chest pressed up against his and embarrassment floods her because she reeks and she’s grimy and her nose is getting thick as more and more warm tears falls down her face to drip off her chin as he cradles her close, hand settling against the back of her head to tuck her against his neck.

He rumbles soothingly and Bella draws a snotty shuddering hiccup against him as the sweetness of his scent registered to her senses, an arm drawing tight against her back to keep her firm and safe in his arms.

Bella has never been held like this by Charlie – can’t remember more than awkward pats on her shoulders and one or two half-hugs when she’d come to visit him for the summer.

But she’d always wanted him to.

Had dreamt of it when she was little and offered a small refuge from Renée before everything had become a mess and she’d stopped coming to Forks.

“It’s going to be okay,” he says, lips pressing against the crown of her head. “I’ve got you, little one. Whatever got you so upset we’ll help you through it - I promise. We’re not going anywhere.”

Her hand curls into his shirt, wrinkling the starch fabric of the striped button-up he favoured for work.

“Emmett is waiting in the car,” he murmurs and Bella presses closer. “He’ll take us home.”

He rises, lifting her as easily as if she weighed nothing and she clings to him as he carries her down the stairs and out the door and into the drizzling rain before sliding smoothly into an already open car door, Emmett watching them both tensely, his mouth in an flat line as he closed it behind them.

The car is warm, a contrasting thing against Carlisle’s coldness as the car rumbled too life and rolled out the driveway.

-

Bella has always been independent.

She’s used to dealings with things on her own – finding solutions and looking after Renée who came and went out of her hobbies, scatter-brained and impatient and more busy living her life than taking care of it and, consequently, Bella.

It had been her reality for years until Phil.

She doesn’t understand why Emily’s offer knots into a lump in her throat, doesn’t understand why she finds herself unable to voice it to Esme and Carlisle, and she doesn’t understand the fear that grows ugly inside of her until she finds herself so lost that she can’t muster up the energy to leave her bed.

_This isn’t me,_ a small part of her whispers in the recess of her mind but the thing is that it _is_ and her being here, pressed up against Carlisle as Emmett drove them back to the Cullen house, is the reality of those feelings tangling up inside of her.

_Greedy_, her mind hisses as she breathes in his scent, that peculiar burnt sweetness that she loved when it tangled together with Esme’s almost crisp sweetness. _Greedy, greedy, greedy, greedy-_

Bella isn’t supposed to want but she _does_.

Because Carlisle and Esme allows her to, encourages her to, and now she’s wanting _too much_ and the guilt claws at her, roaring inside her mind as the car comes to a stop and the door opens to allow them outside.

“You’ll be okay, baby bear,” Emmett says, his voice strangely tense as his fingers touches briefly to her shoulder. “I don’t know what is going on inside that head of yours but Ma and Pa got you and- we’re all here, you know what, don’t you? You’re not – you’re not alone.”

He looks a bit helplessly to Carlisle who tightens his grip on her.

“Take care of each other,” he says, too low for the human to hear.

“We’ll be fine,” Emmett responds, equally low. “She needs you more than we do right now,” he says and with a last lingering look he turned and flashed into the forest.

Carlisle carries Bella into the house and up the stairs after stepping out of his shoes and Esme meets him at the top of them – bathroom door open and steam wafting out from the bathtub which had been filled to the brim with a layer of soft white suds.

She steps back, eyes on their little one, and Carlisle closes the door behind them before coaxing the human from releasing her grip on him, allowing herself to be reluctantly lowered down and turned around and he loops one arm securely around her waist to keep her pressed against him as her legs gave a little wobble.

Her eyes are red rimmed, her cheeks wet, nose thick and running and Esme tugs the hem of her cardigan down and wipes it away before it could touch the soft mottled colour of her lip where teeth had dug in anew into a fading bruise.

“Hey there, little one,” Esme says gently as Bella draws in a snotty breath, shoulders hunched up and eyes averted firmly to her feet. “I don’t know what’s going on but I know it can’t be worth all this upset.” She reaches out, brushing limp strands away from wet cheeks. “So why don’t we get you all squeaky clean and wrap you up in something warm and make you some hot chocolate and we’ll talk about it, okay?”

Dark brown eyes peek up at her and Esme keeps her expression gentle, hiding the worry as Bella hesitated for a moment before giving a tiny nod – the want flashing naked in her gaze before they slid away from her, replaced with something Esme didn’t like at all.

She reaches out together they help Bella out of her clothes, striping the hoodie that smelt of wolf off her and discarding it aside along with the t-shirt, underwear and sweatpants, a shiver running through her as she stood naked between them, nipples pebbling as Carlisle bent down and nuzzled against her neck while Esme rid of her own clothes before slipping down into the hot water.

Carlisle lifts her up and Esme spreads her legs, welcoming her little one into her arms as the worries of the week melted away with the reassurance that she was _here_. Safe. Everything else could be dealt with, in its time.

Bella’s scent is thick but what might be repugnant to a human only smells good to a vampire and Esme tilts her head, inhaling her baby girl’s scent with relief as Carlisle slid into the water opposite them.

They soap her up – washing every inch until the bathroom smelt heavily of pine and her heartrate was picking up in response to their touch.

It’s easy to notice that she’s lost weight. A lack of appetite, Esme suspects, and she spreads her palm possessively over her ribs with a rumble too low for human hearing to pick up on, making a note to get some food in her at first possible chance.

She hides a small smile as the human squirmed back against her as Carlisle took his time working up her legs, avoiding her where she most wanted them to a swallowed whine – always so receptive to their touch, even now, upset for reasons Esme was going to get to the bottom of.

He eases back and her muscles slowly relaxes until she’s all but melted against Esme – forgetting to be tense with the lure of pleasure and Esme presses her lips to a clean cheek, nostrils flaring.

She was looking forward to making sure that the girl smelt of them and nothing but them.

But everything had a time and place and fixing her upsets had priority.

Carlisle steps out of the bathtub, unashamedly nude, and Esme sweeps the girl into her arms as she follows to a surprised noise, a large towel wrapping around her as her feet settled on the rug and a smaller one getting rubbed through her hair as she peered up at Carlisle, his smile warm as he gave it a last ruffle before discarding it aside.

This time when Carlisle hoists her up her legs secures themselves around his waist and her arms wrap around his neck as he carries her down and deposits her on a pillow on the floor in front of the couch and Esme settles down behind her, fully dressed and with a brush in her hand.

Bella peers back at her, all beautiful brown eyes and vulnerability.

“I’ve got you,” Esme reassures her, combing her fingers gently through the brown hair, getting a feel for the tangles before she raises the brush and starts at the bottom, working her way slowly up as the girl slowly relaxes, her grip on the towel loosening and allowing it to pool down beside her shoulders, revealing the fine line of her neck and her back.

Dots of small brown moles can be seen here and there and Esme promises herself to kiss and each and every single one of them as the brush finally allows itself to be pulled through without snagging but she doesn’t reach for the tie yet, keeping up the rhythmic motion as the scent of warm milk and chocolate wafted from the kitchen, soon joined by a hint of mint.

Carlisle reappears, sinking down on a knee and placing a steadying hand on their little one’s shoulder, the other pressing the warm cup into pale hands, making sure it was steady in their girl’s grip.

“Drink,” he says. “You’ll feel better with a bit of sugar in your body,” he promises with a press of his lips to her temple.

“I’m-“ But Carlisle gives her shoulder a little squeeze and she swallows before she takes a small hesitant sip, the towel doing little to cover her with no hands to draw it shut and his gaze lingers on a small pale breast with a pebbling nipple, the line of her belly and the small dark curls between her legs as Esme deftly braids her hair and secures it.

Bella drinks the hot chocolate and the warmth of the bath and the sugar is finally putting some colour to her cheeks though the tension is slowly returning to her shoulders and she hunches on herself.

Carlisle isn’t surprised – he’d been relieved by the ease which Bella had settled into their lives but there were always things that would need to be handled, hurts that were sure to blossom up and complications were always part of the deal.

It was that way, with children. And Bella is _theirs_ – lover and daughter both and he feels like the luckiest man alive to have found her.

He’s not about to let her go for anything and meeting Esme’s gaze he knows she feels the same.

He takes the mug, half-finished, and places it aside and then he lifts her up and Esme tugs the towel a bit more secure around her as they settle her down between the two of them, a blanket soon spread over her legs to make sure she didn’t get cold and their baby girl clearly struggles not to shrink back into the couch, fingers curling unsurely into the fabric in her lap.

“Nothing you say will make us leave you,” Esme promises her little one as she reaches out and gives her chin a little nudge up to meet brown eyes. “_Nothing_,” she vows.

Bella looks at her, seeking the truth in Esme’s golden gaze and she holds it steadily.

“It’s-“ Her breath hitches but she struggles it down, grasping for control, and Esme is so very proud of her. “It’s stupid. It’s – I’m.” She quiets. “I missed you,” she squeezes out with a little tremble of her lip. “I missed you and it’s _stupid_ but it wouldn’t stop tangling up inside of me and-“

“It’s not stupid,” Carlisle denies gently. “Not if it’s making you feel like this.”

Bella’s fingers clenches and unclenches in the blanket. “I visited Sam and Emily,” she gets out finally, shoulders tensing as she forces it out. “And they made and offer and I couldn’t stop thinking about it and I meant- I meant to bring it up with you but it was like it didn’t want to be spoken and then I called Renée and-“ Her fingers tightens hard enough that her knuckles strain against her skin. “And then it just got worse because-“ But the words tangles on her tongue and her breath hitches and Esme rumbles instinctively in an attempt to soothe, heart twisting at the pain in their little one’s face, fingers curling around a tense fist.

“One thing at the time,” Carlisle encourages, settling a grounding grip on her neck that eased some of that horrible tension from her shoulders.

Resignation flicks through her gaze and her mouth curls as she stares down on Esme’s hand over her own.

“They’re having a baby,” she whispers. “Renée and Phil and-“

And Esme understands because Bella had grown up unwanted, taking care of her mother in a way no child should have to, sacrificing everything about herself-

And her mother had turned around and thrown that right in her face.

“I should be happy for them – I should be but I’m _not_ because it _hurts_ and she just, she just and- and I got _scared_ because I-“ _was afraid of us leaving you as well,_ Esme thinks quietly, thumb stroking over her tense knuckles, waiting her out because the words were tripping over themselves now, as if she couldn’t get herself to stop once she’d started. “And I couldn’t stop thinking about what Emily and Sam said and I’m- I’m _sorry_ because I didn’t say- I didn’t say _no_ but I should have because I have _you_ and that should be enough and yet-“ She hiccups, scrubbing at her eyes. “And yet I couldn’t stop thinking about it and I don’t deserve you and-“

“Sssh,” Esme rumbles, quite unwilling to hear another word as she swept their girl into her arms, her own burning as she drew her close. “Oh baby girl, our love is not conditional,” she whispers into the shell of a warm ear as her nude body pressed up against her own. “You are allowed to want. We _want you to want_ because you deserve so much happiness and love.”

The body in her arms trembles, goosebumps trailing up her arms, and yet she clings – a hand curling into the fabric at the back of Esme's cardigan as she pressed desperately closer.

“We love you. So, so much,” Esme tells her little one, nuzzling gently against her neck. “Every single day with you is a blessing and we are so lucky to have you. The only thing I’m upset about is that you’re hurting because it’s the last thing I want.”

“But I didn’t say no,” Bella whispers against her neck, her tears warm against Esme’s skin.

“Why don’t you tell us the full story,” she says with a little nudge, just enough to make sure she could look at her little one, a thumb stroking a tear away from her cheek.

Brown eyes glances hesitantly towards Carlisle and then Esme and then down, shoulders drawing up. “They said – that next time you were away I could come spend some time with them,” she confesses with a little tremble. “They said I could come as an adult or I could – or I could come to spend time with _Aunt Emily_ and _Uncle Sam_.”

Silence as Esme strokes her thumb gently over a blotchy cheek, mind working over the words as her little one sat miserable and guilty-looking in her lap.

She looks to Carlisle and he looks steadily back at her, a hand reaching out to settle against the skin of their baby girl’s back, rubbing soothingly up and down.

“We’re not angry,” he tells her and his voice is quiet but firm. “We know it wasn’t easy, being left as you were, and we were lucky Emily and Sam were both there to take care of you.”

“Vampires are possessive creatures, little one,” Esme says gently. “But we are not unreasonable. I might not like the idea of sharing you, and I can’t promise I’ll be gentle with you when you return to me smelling of someone else, _but_-“ she says as Bella curls more and more on herself. “I want you to be happy because it makes _me_ happy and it would be a relief to have someone there to look after you when we can’t.”

Bella looks up and Esme smiles at her, hand cradling her chin and giving her a little tug forward to place a kiss at the corner of her mouth.

“You are _ours_,” she tells her little one. “No matter what happens we’ll be here for you. That’s what being a parent is all about.”

“You promise?” Bella whispers, a flicker of hope in her eyes.

“Yes,” Esme and Carlisle echoes without a single ounce of uncertainty.

“I’m sorry for avoiding you,” Bella whispers, leaning forward to brush against Esme, an absolutely adorable little habit she’d picked up that was all vampire.

“I know,” Esme reassures her. “And we’ll talk more about that in the morning but right now it’s late and you haven’t slept properly in days, judging by those smudges beneath your eyes.” She brushes a thumb over one of them, a small soothing rumble building in her chest. “So why don’t we put on a movie and relax for a little bit and get you something into that tummy of yours.” She trails her hand down and tickles her fingers against the pale flatness of her belly to a little squeak.

She flicks a meaningful look to Carlisle whose gaze darkens with hunger and he leans forward to steal a kiss from them both before drawing back and into the kitchen – taking the mug with him to be put to wash.

Esme puts it on one of her and Carlisle’s favourite movies and fetches one of Emmett’s hoodies and a pair of underwear to dress her little one into with a little shiver and a head that tilts into her touch and Esme grabs her chin and draws it up, claiming her mouth with a rumble of a possessive growl that made their girl shiver.

This time when Esme settles in the couch and draws her little one up into her arms she cradles her on her back in the crook of her arm, half-curling her towards her to a blink of surprise and a little squirm that Esme soothed with a kiss against her forehead as Carlisle returned with the bottle, a flush spreading over Bella’s cheeks as she caught sight of it.

“Mommy?”

Esme nearly closes her eyes, the relief of hearing the word leaving her little one’s mouth nearly overwhelming her.

“We don’t want to overwhelm your stomach,” Carlisle says as he settles down beside them, glancing towards the black and white movie with a fond twitch of his lips before he looks back to Bella who is tipping into little space as the situation sinks into her mind.

The movie meant for Mommy and Daddy – and then her, curled up against Esme’s chest, head cradled in the crook of her arm with a bottle with a gummy nipple that is passed to Mommy’s hand after a test against Daddy’s wrist to make sure it wasn’t too hot.

Bella slowly parts her lips as it presses up against them, her eyes never leaving Esme’s golden as she sucked once, twice, warm milky-liquid spilling into her mouth as she suckled – the low voices on the television becoming a background noise as she pressed her cheek against the swell of Esme’s chest, imagining that she was drinking another milk entirely as Mommy and Daddy watches her with warm hungry eyes.

Minutes passes, the bottle slowly being emptied as Mommy keeps it in a firm grasp, humming gently as Bella slowly finished it and she gives a soft whine when it’s tugged from her mouth.

But then Mommy was unbuttoning her cardigan and the blouse beneath it to reveal a bare breast, nipple already hard and waiting for the warm mouth that turns to hungrily claim it, eyes lidding as she curled even closer, Daddy’s hand rubbing warm and steady against her ankle as she suckled with her belly filled with milk.

There are no worries here – not safe within Mommy’s arms and with Daddy’s steady hand on her and Bella closes her eyes, saving the worries for another day as she slowly falls into an exhausted sleep.


	6. A Family Trip

Bella gets grounded for the rest of the weekend but she can’t get herself to care – not when Mommy and Daddy are both _right there_ and she spends more time in little space than out of it.

It’s strange to realize how calm her mind is in the aftermath of the moments of little space, as she’s come to think of it as, a deep aching sort of satisfaction that makes her reach up and draw Alice into her arms without hesitation when her big sister peers down on her Sunday afternoon, a tinkling laughter escaping her as she went willingly, sprawling out over Bella to a small grunt.

There was a strange density to vampires that made Alice heavier than her small body hinted at but Bella finds that she likes it, looping her arms firmly around her pixie like sister and nuzzles up against her neck to a laugh that turns to a low purr as she nuzzled right back with a little nip against her neck.

“I worried about you,” Alice confesses against her neck. “Don’t do it again. I don’t like it when you ignore me. Us. This family.”

“’m sorry,” Bella whispers back and Alice’s arms tightens around her and then Bella squeaks because Alice drops all her weight upon her, laughing as the human squirmed a bit uselessly below her.

“Ah, sisterly love,” Carlisle comments in amusement as he passes them by, a book beneath his arm.

“_Dad_-“ Bella protests but he just laughs, stroking a hand over her brow when he stops beside them on the way back, Alice’s smile smug where she squishes her down.

“It’s nearing lunch time for you,” he tells her as Bella peers up through strands of brown. “Is that okay?” he asks and Bella grumbles, red creeping across her cheeks as flicks her eyes to Alice before nodding firmly.

Alice sighs softly against her neck, breath cold. “I love you, baby sis.”

“Love you too, big sis,” Bella admits, cheeks darkening even further as Alice purred low at the confession.

Carlisle’s smile only grows.

“You mind if big sis gives you your lunch?” he asks and Bella stills, vulnerability creeping through her gaze even as he keeps his hand steady on her brow.

“Can I?” Alice asks, perking up. “I know how to do it – I can even prepare it! But only if you don’t mind me to,” she amends nearly immediately, light golden eyes finding Bella’s brown as the human hesitated before giving a small nod.

“Thank you,” Carlisle says, bending down to kiss her forehead as Alice wiggled back and disappeared into the kitchen. “They’ve all been worried about you but Alice especially,” he admits to her as she gazes up at him. “She loves you,” he says before straightening out with a little squeeze to her hand when she reaches for him.

Bella sits up on the couch, not quite sure what to do with herself as she strains her hearing, listening to the sound of the meal-replacement being prepared on the stove, glancing to the front door as it opened up and doing her best not to shrink back when Rosalie stepped inside, golden eyes finding her own with a flare of her nose and something dark in her eyes before quickly looking away and simply moving up the stairs.

For a second Bella thinks about saying something but then Jasper and Emmett steps inside and Bella finds herself drawn up and spun around with a tight hug.

“I’m glad you’re okay,” Emmett whispers against her ear before letting her down with a little wink as Jasper watches them both with a mild sort of expression, the distance between them clear as he inclined his head.

“I told you,” he says and Bella looks away, not sure what to say as Emmett beckoned him inside for a game of chess in the corner.

And suddenly she doesn’t feel quite comfortable with the whole endeavour at all but it’s _Alice_ and she’d _promised_ and she can’t change her mind when the other looks so terribly hopeful when she carries the bottle into the room while Bella struggles not to squirm back and disappear into the couch.

“Are you okay?” Alice asks, hovering with a little tilt of her head and a meaningful look to Jasper and Emmett who are both pretending not to hear them.

“Yes,” Bella forces out because this is supposed to be her _family_ and she’s spent the weekend listening to Esme and Carlisle both telling her how much they care.

_Our love is not conditional, _Esme had said and Bella has to trust that as Alice sinks into the couch and wiggles back into the corner of it as Bella shifts closer, hesitating for a moment before Alice simply patted her thighs and Bella allows herself to sink down with her head against them.

The nipple nudges up against her mouth and it’s a familiar thing now and she sucks down on it as Alice strokes her fingers over her brow and if she closes her eyes she can pretend not to feel the golden gazes of her brothers.

-

At school she’s mostly been sitting with Alice and, every now and then, Emmett though it always leaves Bella rather uncomfortable – unable to avoid the burning gaze of Rosalie which never leaves them.

By Thursday her neck is prickling.

“Just ignore her,” Alice says, interrupting Emmett who turns to give her a deep unreadable look.

Bella flushes slightly at having been caught glancing at the blonde woman and ducks her head, focusing down on the lunch Esme had sent along for her and speering the pear to avoid having to say anything incriminating.

“Leave Rosie alone,” Emmett says, twirling his fork to point it at her.

“I will,” Alice says pleasantly, “when she stops glaring at my best friend and baby sister.”

“It’s okay Alice,” Bella tries.

“No,” Alice says, turning to give Bella a sharp look. “It’s _not_ and she knows it.”

“Lay off her,” Emmett warns, a flash of teeth and a building of a rumble in his chest, a sharp glare and an echoing one from Alice and-

Bella rises abruptly, turning and climbing off the bench as both vampires stared after her in sudden shock - mouths nearly open in surprise as Bella marched over to the official Cullen table and grasped for Edward’s sleeve, tugging him along to a little surprised noise as he had to fumble along to keep up the human charade.

“Bella-“ he says but she only tightens her grip on his shirt, ignoring her siblings and the stares from the school as she all but dragged him out of the lunchroom.

He only forces her to a halt once they’re out of sight from the general population, stopping so abruptly she nearly trips, swivelling around to look at him.

“Why-“

“We’re going home,” Bella says, interrupting him. “I want to go home,” she amends. “Can you take me? I didn’t bring my car and I know you took yours today. I need to talk with Esme.”

He gives her a long unreadable look.

“This couldn’t wait?” he asks but he starts moving and Bella breathes out in relief as she catches up to him, mindful to keep her distance.

“I don’t think it can,” Bella says as he glances at her with darkening eyes. “Not with Alice and Emmett…”

“They wouldn’t actually have gotten into an altercation,” Edward tells her. “We’ve been doing this for too long for such a simple slip up.”

“I know,” Bella agrees as they pushes out into the parking lot. “But it can’t continue like this.”

Edward hums. “No,” he agrees finally as he unlocks his car and opens up the passenger door for her to a brief blink of surprised eyes before she slipped inside. “You’re right about that,” he says, closing it shut behind her.

-

Edward turns all the windows down and turns on some music as he drives, one hand on the steering wheel and the other tapping a bit absently against the space where his glass had rolled down in one of those _I’m-being-human-now_ tics they all had going for them in one way or the other.

“Sorry about putting you on the spot,” Bella says as she tucks some hair from where it’d blown into her face. “But I think Rosalie would murder me and Jasper is still having the worst trouble with my scent, I think.”

“Jasper is still pretty new to this life-style,” Edward says without remarking on the first half. “And he led a… turbulent life before Alice found him and claimed him for herself.”

“She told me about that,” Bella remembers. “That she had a vision of them together. I found it a bit curious because her gift is decision based and yet… something brought them together.”

“And then them to us,” Edward agrees, his voice fond. “Put us all through a spin, she did. Not unlike you.”

Bella fights down a blush, knowing that it intensified her scent and clearing her throat, turning to look out as he glanced towards her.

The music shifts to talking on the radio and then a low familiar tune that makes Bella sigh and relax back, humming along a bit absently.

“You a fan?” Edward asks surprised.

Bella hums. “I like most music,” she admits. “I grew up with Travis though. _Why Does It Always Rain On Me? _Is a classic, I had a CD with it and all. I think I got it from one of Renée’s on and off boyfriends after he caught me humming along. I think he was a musician of some sort?”

She remembers his smile, all teeth and a bit lopsided, his skin brown and his beard had been thick and smelt of fine oils when she pushed up to give him a hug.

Not all men had been bad, most of them had barely left an impression one way or another, and then there were some she couldn’t quite shake off despite her best attempts.

The kind ones were the ones she treasured the most and she had a handful of things she’d received off-handedly when they’d caught her peering inquisitively at their things.

She still has the CD – it’s on her desk among the other knick-knacks she’d gathered during the years. Books she’d _forgotten _to return to the library, an old plastic bracelet one of the girls at school had thrown at her after it broke and she’d painstakingly mended together again.

There’s something strange in his gaze when she looks up at him but he doesn’t say anything – his eyes returning to the road as he turned the wheel and took the turn down the barely visible road towards the Cullen house, his eyes dark.

-

Esme is already pulling her gloves off as Bella climbs out of the car, dirt on her cheek and her knees from where she’d been kneeling and a curious tilt of her head as Edward raised his hand as he started backing, wheels catching as he steered easily through the trees.

“Mom,” Bella breathes, grinning as she throws her arms around Esme, laughing when she was swept up and drawn into a little spin.

“What a pleasant surprise,” Esme murmurs against her ear, her breath cool. “I take it from your smile that I’m not about to face some grave news?” she says, releasing Bella to give her a mock-stern look.

“I’d have called then,” Bella promises and Esme gives her a kiss on the cheek.

“Lunch?” she asks.

“I just ate,” Bella tells her, hesitating but then – “I was actually wondering if we could do something just you and I.”

Esme pauses, turning to give her an inquiring look.

“I don’t know what’s been going on with Rosalie,” Bella says, hands trailing down to grasp at Esme’s sleeve and fiddle with them a bit absently. “But I think – I think it has something to do with me. And maybe you.” She looks up, a little crease in her brow. “It’s like she can’t stand to look at either at us and she’s been… snappish with you and Emmett in particular.”

“Noticed that, did you?” Esme hums, reaching out to brush some hair behind her ear. “Rosalie’s hurts are not to easily solved,” she cautions.

“I know,” Bella agrees. “But home is… home. She shouldn’t feel like an outsider in it.”

“Not should you,” Esme tells her, turning her hand to catch Bella’s, fingers twining together with a soft squeeze.

“I know,” Bella agrees, her heart so warm, so fond. “But maybe Rosalie needs some time to remember it’s hers.” She flushes slightly. “Maybe it sounds a bit stupid but it hit me, when we were at school, that I’m kinda always there with her and I know… I know new things and old hurts aren’t always so easy to mend together.”

Esme sighs and draws her close and Bella tilts her head into the mouth that angles over hers, opening immediately to the cold tongue that strokes up and then twines with hers, her free hand curling into Esme’s shirt to make sure she wasn’t going anywhere as she surrendered willingly to the other’s dominance.

“We should bring your brothers,” Esme murmurs against her lips as she draws back, her sweet breath filling Bella’s nose as she inhales, heart pounding hard inside her chest. “If we want to do this properly. At least Jasper and Edward.”

And Bella understands that – she’s constantly relieved that Edward can’t read her mind and she finds Jasper’s gift unnervingly enough on its own.

“Will they come?” she asks.

“Oh,” Esme murmurs as she trails her mouth down, scraping her teeth gently against a throat that tilts to bare itself. “I think I know just the person to make sure they do.”

-

Bella wakes up with a gasp, eyes snapping open and back arching as Carlisle’s cock pushed into her body, her fingers clawing into the sheets as she was forcefully spread wide, walls opening to swallow the thick head inside of her, inch after inch following as he pressed down on her back until his hips moulded against her rump, making sure he was pushed up flat against her cervix.

She stares blindly into the darkness, mind torn from sleep, her heart pounding as he growled, bending down to nose against her neck as sweat beaded on her skin, eyes turned to pinpricks in the sudden achy pain as her walls squeezes around the cold thickness of his cock.

She quivers, a strained whine pulled from her throat as he dragged himself out of her before burying back with a snap to a gasp as her body lurched forward, muscles tensing and arms pushing down, knees spreading for better leverage and he rumbles, a low delicious _good girl _that makes her clench down hard to keep him inside as he pulled out until only the head remained inside of her.

He rubs his hand over her flank, cold, always so damn _cold_, and then a stinging slap rings out and a noise of shock escapes her as she twitches forward instinctively to avoid a second one only to find her hips grasped and dragged back to impale her on him and he grinds into her depth as her knuckles turn white, her mind struggling to comprehend the scope of the situation.

Two more follows, hard enough that she knows she’s going to bruise and then a growl that makes her breath hitch as he bends down and drags his tongue from the bottom of her spine and up.

And then he was simply turning her around, hands and feet stolen from beneath her and cock pulled out only to push back inside and he sinks into her body as she arches with a cry of shock, forgetting to be quiet as slotted between her thighs, giving her no chance to get used to it as he fucked her with hard, short brutal thrusts that mashed against her cervix in a way that made her face twist.

The room is dark and she can’t see more than a silhouette of him as he bends over her, burying his face into the crook of her neck, her nipples pebbling beneath her shirt in response to the press of his cold body, one hand sinking blindly into his short blond hair as she spread her legs further, feeling the way he takes her brutally and with claim to a mix of fear and desperate arousal.

The noises grow slick as her body catches up to the situation, his mouth sucking dark marks against her neck as it lolled to the side to bare it further with a low groan as he hammered into her, his balls slapping against her, his cock spreading her so wide and fast that she knows she’s going to be feeling it in the morning.

She doesn’t hear the door opening but she does feel the dip of the bed and the cold familiar fingers that curl into her mouth and she sucks down on them, taking the distraction for that it was and lavishing them generously.

“Carlisle,” Esme rumbles and he growls as he snaps deep and hard into Bella, arms wrapping firmly around her and taking her with him as he rolled onto his back, keeping her firmly pressed against him as he resumed his thrusting, giving her little choice but to cling with a horribly needy whine as Esme’s fingers slipped out of her mouth.

She strains, twisting to catch them back, but Esme’s hand slides back to grasp at her neck and she grunts as she’s pressed down, stilling when a cold mouth opened wide and sealed around her neck with a hardening press that made her clench down hard on Carlisle to a fierce growl as he moulded himself tight to her and came with sticky ice cold cum filling up her cunt as it squeezed and rippled around him.

There’s no heartbeat below her, no strain from the rough fucking, only Bella’s own trembles as Esme’s teeth sunk deeper and deeper.

She jerks when Carlisle’s mouth snaps up and sinks down hard on the other side of her neck but with such fine control that her skin doesn’t break – Esme pulling away with a low purr to lap against her mark while Carlisle lingered for a moment longer before reluctantly releasing her and nuzzling against his own.

Bruised, _marked, _claimed in such a way that it stood out as a warning to any other vampire who crossed her path.

Bella’s still wound up, so close to orgasm but denied it and twitching as Carlisle pulled himself out of her body and dipped into her cunt to scoop out the messy mixture of their want and pressing it up against a mouth that opened willingly to swallow it down while Esme watched them both with darkening eyes.

“Carlisle,” she says mildly. “You know we needed that to cover her up.”

Bella twitches as his fingers drags out of her mouth and then twists to bury roughly back into her body to scoop out more, this time claiming it for himself with a flat broad lick over his fingers.

“I guess we’ll just have to do it again then,” he says with a curl of his lips and a glitter of his golden eyes.

-

Jasper is looking vaguely amused come Friday morning while Edward is looking rather long-suffering with a bag by his feet and a very smug looking Alice wiggled between the two of them, arms linked up to make sure there were no escape attempts being made.

“Bella,” Alice calls as Edward looks beseechingly to Esme who flips her sunglasses down and pats his shoulder as she wanders by to snag his baggage along. “Lizzy is lying beneath the bed.”

Bella flushes faintly but she murmurs her thanks as she dodges back into the house and up the stairs with a strange urgency in her chest but as she pushes the door to their room open and ducks low she does, indeed, find the blue elephant there and she pulls her outs and draws her close.

“Sorry,” she murmurs to Lizzy, stroking a hand over the fuzzy head. “Couldn’t go about forgetting you, of course.”

She makes sure the pacifier is hidden against her chest when she closes the door behind her despite knowing very well vampire hearing made it impossible to keep such things hidden and more than one had seen it by now.

But it’s the principal of the thing, Bella decides, hurrying down the corridor with a slight flush to her cheeks.

She is not prepared for the door on her right to open up and normally it might not have meant much but Bella jerks at the sight of blonde hair, an instinctive response and an apology on her lips but those golden eyes aren’t narrowing in anger but flaring wide and Bella only realises why when her left foot doesn’t hit the floor like she meant.

But then before she can fall Rosalie is suddenly there and a hand is sealing around her wrist, too hard, a gasp leaving her as she was pulled up she reaches out to grasp at the red sweater the other was wearing with her heart pounding in her head and a scrunching of her brow as she tipped between adult and little – still so close to the state after waking up only an hour earlier with her mouth sealed around Esme’s nipple in hazy morning contentedness.

In front of her Rosalie tenses, goes so still that Bella would have reacted had she been in a right state to do so but she _doesn’t_ as she gasps once, twice, and then realises she’d dropped _Lizzy_ and she has to close her eyes as a tremble runs through her.

She barely notices the cloth disappearing from the grip but she does notice when a familiar softness presses up against her chest and her breath hitches as she draws her close and inhales the clinging scent of Carlisle, Esme and herself.

Her heart calms but a dark flush spreads over her cheeks and disappear down her shirt and she pries her eyes open – fearful of what she’d see.

But Rosalie’s eyes are furrowed and there’s a strange look in them but there’s no anger.

If anything there’s pain, a deep dark sort of achiness that twists something in Bella in response.

“Ros-“

“Save it,” the blonde hisses, jerking her hand back. “And watch where you’re going.”

She steps back and slams the door to her and Emmet’s room shut and Bella draws Lizzy closer as she swallows and grasps for the railing as she makes her way down, not quite sure what to feel but relaxing when Emmett’s arms looped around her and hauled her up for a spin.

-

Bella finds herself in the passenger seat of the car – a small cooler by her feet and a fleece blanket spread over her legs and the windows turned down to make sure her scent wasn’t overwhelming the vampires in the car.

She is aware of the way she reeks of Esme and Carlisle both even if her nose isn’t anywhere near as sensitive – had been there for every possessive smear, is far too aware of the way they had made sure cover her skin in it to hide the human scent of blood that so naturally drew the others in.

And she knows it had been necessary but she still has to fight now a spread of red on her cheeks, glancing out the window and trying to surreptitiously hide the awkward shifting thanks to her bruised rump, ever so thankful for the pillow Alice had slid onto her seat with a wink.

Esme’s the one driving, humming along to the radio, and Bella glances up through the mirror, fighting down a grin at the sight of the vampires shoved tight together in the backseat, Alice rather smug-looking in the middle of them, Jasper reading a well-worn copy of a crime novel and Edward looking rather like he’d be anywhere but there.

As the youngest she should, technically, be in the middle of them – so much television had taught her.

She finds herself rather pleased she wasn’t and glances at Esme before looking down at the well-worn copy of Pride and Prejudice in her lap which Carlisle had snuck her that morning with a kiss to her cheek and something soft in his eyes when he breathed in the scent of her.

He worried, she knew, about her and Rosalie both and he’d reassured himself wordlessly by claiming her as thoroughly as he had before allowing her to go.

“I can’t believe we didn’t take a second car,” Edward grumps in the backseat, trying to surreptitiously lean away from Alice who was making a show of dominance in the middle as the only one with her back firmly pressed against the leather.

“It’s a family trip,” Alice says, so terribly pleased-looking that Bella had to look away from the mirror and out the window to keep from laughing. “There wouldn’t be much bonding happening if we we’re all doing our own thing.”

“We’re four vampires crammed into a tiny car with a living, breathing human. Am I the only one even vaguely concerned by this?” he asks, dragging a hand through his tousled bronze locks, half-coiled against the door and giving Alice a long-offended look when she sunk even deeper against him.

Bella glances up, catching his light golden gaze in the mirror before he looks away with a huff.

“You’re not that kind of hungry,” Jasper says idly, flipping a page as Edward ducked with a low growl. “I think he’s a bit jealous of how thoroughly you marked the human.”

Alice makes a low agreeing noise and Esme’s grin grows pleased, a low rumbly sort of purr making Bella flush.

“She does smell good, doesn’t she?” Esme says a bit dreamily to Bella who is doing her very best not to pretend she’d practically been baptized in vampire cum. “You’re not nearly as tantalizing to their hunger like this.”

“It’s a claim thing,” Jasper comments as he glances up, a spark of… something in his gaze as Bella catches it though the mirror as she looks up.

Embarrassment darkens her cheeks and she ducks her head, grumbling slightly but relaxing back when Esme reaches out and takes her hand in hers with a squeeze.

“We’re are we going anyway?” Edward asks after a couple of minutes. “Alice has been looping obnoxious songs in Swedish in her head since yesterday.”

“Lill-Babs is not _obnoxious_,” Alice says with a hand against her heart. “_Jag är en tuff brud I lyxförpackning, en tuff brud I snyggt fodral, jag är ett litet stycke dynamit maskerad till sockerbit-“ _

Edward digs an elbow against her and Alice shoves back, Jasper simply shifting his book towards the window to keep it from getting squished as the two playfully growled against each other as they wrestled to a squeak from Alice when Edward dug his fingers roughly into her ribs.

“Children,” Esme warns mildly but her eyes are glittering with amusement. “Alice rented out an entire building for our use,” she tells Bella who blinks at her. “Indoor pool, sauna, a hot pool – everything we need for a relaxing weekend.”

“That… sounds fun, actually,” Edward says a bit surprised, ducking a kick with a baring of his teeth as he snaps after her foot.

“It’s been awhile since we did something like this,” Jasper muses, turning the page of his book now flattened against the window to avoid the two vampires beside him, Alice back mashed against his own to give her more leverage and Bella strongly suspects he’d turned strategically just for that.

“It’s-“ Alice says with a strained grunt as she digs her heels into Edward’s palms, “going to be so much _fun_,” she promises with a hard shove that rocks the car and makes Bella squawk in surprise as she grasps for the handle above her as Esme swerves to compensate for it.

_Vampires_, she thinks, heart pounding in her chest.

-

“Come on, come on, _come on_!” Bella finds herself hauled alone by Alice, Jasper already loaded up with their bags as Esme and Edward stayed to talk with the owner who’d been waiting at the front with their keys that got thrown and caught after a holler from Alice as she breezed past.

It’s a pretty large place, wooden and up on poles to keep it off the ground, the woods thick around them. There’s a large structure with enormous windows connected to it, glittering blue in the promise of a pool for their exclusive use and Bella wishes she had a camera to commemorate it as her eyes drinks the sight.

Alice pushes the door open after unlocking it and they step into a large open floor space with a fireplace, light carpets and wide leather couches and chairs with blankets artfully spread about to curl up with. A flat screen television is mounted to the wall among artwork clearly meant to reflect the area they found themselves in and a kitchen waited for them, shining clean.

Alice forgoes all of this completely, Bella’s wrist still in her grasp as she pushed the a door open and Bella found herself with her breath caught as she was released, Alice stepping back and spreading her arms wide.

“This one has the best view,” she says, just a tad smugly as Bella steps closer to the broad windows with her heart in her throat, absolutely blown away as she stared out over the forest.

“Which means it’s yours,” Jasper says where he’s leaning against the door opening. “You’re the only one sleeping, after all.”

Bella swallows and then she turns and lurches to wrap her arms tight around Alice who laughs as she drags them both down in a sprawl on the bed, Jasper watching them both as Bella squeaked, finding herself rolled onto her back and nuzzled as Alice dropped her weight down on her to make sure she couldn’t get out of her grip.

There’s giddiness in her chest, so much warmth and fondness for this small pixie-like creature as she tilts her head to bare her throat in that way she knew her vampires adored and got her a happy purr in response.

Alice’s thigh pushed up against the apex of her thighs and Bella flushes, squirming only to have it pressing down further as Alice coiled tighter, her nose flaring as she pressed her lips to Bella’s throat and her heart stutters in her chest, aware of the way Jasper’s eyes lingers on them both.

Alice presses a kiss to the corner of her mouth as she draws up, hovering over the flushed human.

“Oh we’re going to have so much fun with you,” she promises as Bella shivers at the darkening of her eyes.


End file.
